Once Upon A Fandom
by TangledWithYou
Summary: Alec is Cinderella. Tessa is Beauty. Steve Rogers is The Little Mermaid. Harry is Aladdin. Stiles is Snow White. Newt is Sleeping Beauty. What else can you wish for ;) Main pairings: Malec, Wessa, Drarry, Newtmas, Stucky and Sterek Please R&R ;) OFFICIALLY ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1 - Cinderalec

**So this is a new thing I'm writing just to blow off steam. I will not upload regularly, but every chapter can be read as a standalone, so you know, no cliff-hangers or anything. **

**Ps. Sorry if this is a bit OOC. **

**Enjoy. **

**Cinderalec (with the twist)**

**Pairing: Malec (Magnus x Alec)**

**Fandom: The Mortal Instruments**

_Alexander Gideon Lightwood could say that the first ten years of his life were a bliss. Well, at least compared to the other six. When he was ten, his mother, Maryse, passed away from cancer, and his father, Robert, couldn't stand being alone with a little boy. He did try…at the beginning. But the little boy looked too much like his mother, was too gentle, too soft. He couldn't stand it. So he started to drink. _

_And drink…_

_And drink. _

_In the end social services took Alexander away from him and placed him in an adoptive family two months after his thirteenth birthday, after the teachers at school reported that he came in with bruises up and down his pale arms. Again. _

_The family he got placed in was far from ideal. But anything was better than that place. At least that's what he told himself. The bruises never disappeared. He just got better at hiding them. _

_Valentine Morgenstern was a wealthy businessman, respected and rich. He owned at least three expensive cars, his suits were always impeccable and he was always polite, if cold. Nothing wrong here. _

_Yeah, right. _

_Cheater. _

_Lilith Morgenstern was the perfect lady of the house. She didn't work, but attended charity parties with her friends, and drank tea with other high status ladies. She wore emeralds and pearls and diamonds, she wore long, classy dresses, she was charming and good to people. Nothing wrong here. _

_Yeah, right. _

_Cruel. _

_Sebastian Morgenstern, the seventeen year old son of Lilith and Valentine. Dark eyes, light hair, captivating smile, the girls swooned over him, he helped old ladies cross the road, gave up his seat on the bus if he wasn't driving his shiny car. Perfect grades, perfect boy. Nothing wrong here. _

_Yeah, right. _

_Sadist. _

_Magnus Morgenstern, eighteen years old, the oldest son of the Morgenstern's. Liked to party, art student at a fancy university, charming, polite, loved by everyone. A bit rough around the edges, sometimes late, girls swooned over him as well. Nothing wrong here. _

_Nope. _

_Perfect. _

_Alexander Lightwood? That sixteen year old? Oh no, he's not part of the Morgenstern family. He couldn't possibly be. Goes to a public school, scruffy, drinks alcohol. No, surely it can't be. The Morgenstern's simply adopted him out of the goodness of their hearts, nobody could control a boy like that, even them. He's the black sheep of the family, no good's gonna come out of him. _

_Yeah Right. _

_Misunderstood._

* * *

><p>The beeping filled the small attic room, bouncing off walls and assaulting Alec's head. The sixteen year old groaned and buried his head in the pillow. He shouldn't have been out drinking last night, he really shouldn't have. In all honestly Isabelle, his best friend, did try to stop him. Didn't work, obviously. Alec gave himself a minute to lie in bed, before slowly sitting up. He squinted at his bedside clock, his vision blurry, he face read 6:32 in the morning, his usual waking up time. School started at 9, but he had to do his morning chores before that. And last night's chores. He groaned again and buried his face in his hands. Partying on a Thursday was definitely a very bad idea.<p>

With a sigh Alec got up and winced as his bare feet touched the cold wooden floorboards. There was frost on the window and the radiator was off, even though he could've sworn he left it on last night. Fucking Sebastian, it was probably one of his 'jokes.'

Ignoring the pounding in his head, and the freezing temperature of the room, Alec padded into the small bathroom attached to his tiny room. There was barely any room inside for a toilet and a shower cabin, but it would do. Alec quickly stripped off his pyjamas and avoided looking in the mirror. He stepped into the cabin and gritted his teeth at the even cooler temperature of the plastic under his feet. He cautiously stepped to the side and turned the water on, careful that the stream didn't hit him directly. He proceeded to stick one hand under the water, and immediately withdrew it with a gasp. The water was more freezing than the temperature outside. Once again, fucking Sebastian. Alec could imagine the other boy smirking to himself, comfortable and warm in his bed, while his step brother froze his butt off in the shower after he turned the warm water off.

After two minutes Alec decided the water wouldn't warm and speed washed instead. With his teeth clattering he quickly scrubbed himself down and washed his hair. He was out in three minutes, which beat his record, and accidently caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His midnight black hair was dripping with water, his lifeless blue eyes looked, well lifeless, his skin paler than usual, the shadows under his eyes…he winced when he saw the purple and yellow bruises on his ribs and arms. Being Sebastian's punching bag was definitely one of his least favourite sports. He hurriedly pulled on an old t-shirt and his skinny ripped jeans, tugging a black and red flannel over it. He packed his bag for school, at the same time drying his hair with a towel. He just wanted to get to the kitchen and make breakfast for his family, it would be warm there and he could sneakily eat some bacon.

When he decided his hair was moderately dried, he walked out on the corridor. The house the Morgenstern's lived in was massive, it was a villa on the nice side of Idris, with a swimming pool, a spa and a ball room. There were framed pictures of the family hanging on the walls, in between the high, arched windows. He could see Sebastian and Magnus together in one of them, around the age of eight. Sebastian, all angular beauty and cold, black eyes, and Magnus with his warm smile and messy hair. Lilith and Valentine, some ancestors he didn't know the names of. Living with the Morgensterns wasn't really that bad. Sure Sebastian was a cruel sadist, he punched and tormented Alec whenever he could, turned the water off and stole his clothes and Lilith did look at him like he was something stuck to her shoe, but overall Valentine and Lilith ignored him. If it wasn't for Sebastian, life could be bearable. Maybe even good.

And then there was Magnus.

He definitely was the highlight of the family. He was the only person who treated Alec like an actual human being, and he seemed to hate his family almost as much as Alec did. When the family was not due for a party or a conference, Magnus was out of the house faster than lightning. But the two didn't talk much, not really.

It was still dark in the house, it was early December, which meant longer nights, shorter days. Great, all Alec needed was shorter days to do all his chores. He was pretty sure he was already in plenty of shit for sneaking out yesterday. He rubbed a pale hand down his face as he relied on his instincts to lead him into the kitchen. Surprisingly the light was on in the room, so Alec slowed his step. He peeked round the corner to see who it was. He really wasn't up for a beating so early in the morning.

He sighed with relief when he realised it was his favourite member of the family.

"Hey," he muttered, leaning down to pick up a frying pan. Magnus didn't answer, just continued leaning against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. Alec glanced up at him and frowned, his head pounding,

"What?" he asked when Magnus continued to stare at him. His expression was annoyed and…worried?

"You came home late last night."

Alec rolled his eyes, putting the pan on the stove and shuffling over to the fridge to get eggs and bacon, a lecture, great.

"Yeah so?" he asked, hoping to sound nonchalant and ignoring the way Magnus' T-shirt clung to his muscles. The taller boy stood up straight and sighed, running a hand through his spiky hair,

"I'm just worried Alec," he said coming closer to the other boy, "You're out all the time."

"Yeah so are you," Alec muttered, breaking an egg onto the pan, ignoring his shaking hands. Magnus didn't answer, instead he leaned forward and grabbed another egg, breaking it alongside Alec's.

"I'll make toast," he said resignedly after a minute. They didn't say much as they prepared breakfast, instead lapsing into a comfortable silence. It was little things like Magnus helping him make breakfast that made him appreciate this family. His father never made any breakfast with him. He usually stumbled in well past noon, piss drunk. Alec shook his head, clearing it from the thoughts of his father and instead replaced them thought of Magnus. Lately he's been feeling weird around the other guy, his heart was all fluttery and weird and he blushed whenever Magnus smiled. Everyone knew he was gay, but he never had a boyfriend, not when everyone knew he was different from the Morgensterns. Money, power, fame. That didn't matter to him. He only wanted to be loved, seriously, that's all he wanted. If someone just…

"Alec! You're burning the food!" Magnus yelled pushing Alec out of the way. Sure enough, Alec was too absorbed in his thoughts to pay attention to the breakfast. Thankfully Magnus quickly turned off the flame before any damage could be made. He turned to Alec with a disapproving look .

"Sorry," Alec mumbled, flushing. Magnus didn't scold him, just sighed.

"You're really out of it lately," he stated. Alec just shrugged, and hugged himself. Unfortunately that caused his sleeve to ride up, exposing a nasty bruise above his wrist. Something flashed in Magnus' eyes and he was by the younger boy in seconds, rolling the sleeve of the flannel up to his elbow, and examining the bruise. He gripped Alec's pale arm tightly, but the other boy snatched it back, and quickly rolled his sleeve down. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Magnus' eyes filled with anger.

"I'll kill that bastard," he stated angrily, making his way to the door. Red alarms flared in Alec's brain. If Magnus beat up Sebastian then he would get the blame, because…well…because he's Alec. Before he knew what he was doing he was reaching for Magnus, and tugged on his sleeve.

"It's okay, seriously…you don't, um, have to…I, um…just…" he stuttered. Magnus' glared at him for a split second and then his face softened and he moved back into the kitchen,

"I'll get him back later," he said with a small smile. He reached into a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of some kind of medicine, "roll your sleeves up," he commanded. Alec blinked at me, and blushed again,

"Um, no – I, um…it's fine…" he looked down at the floor, suddenly interested in his batman socks.

"Alexander."

Alec flinched visibly,

"D-don't call me that," he whispered. The atmosphere in the room thickened so much Alec was sure he could slice it with a knife. Only his mom used to call him Alexander, and she was gone, so was that name.

"Sorry," Magnus said softly, placing the medicine next to Alec. He hesitantly reached for the boys sleeves, where they were pulled over his hands. When Alec didn't pull back so he slowly rolled them up to his elbows, but could only see one or two bruises, "You might wanna take that off," Magnus said, awkwardly coughing into his hand. Alec's entire face was beet red, this was the closest him and Magnus were _ever_. Actually this was the closest he's been to anyone except his biological parents and Izzy. No one was exactly up to befriend the weird brother of the Morgensterns. Except Isabelle, she was just a rebel like that.

Trying desperately to keep his heart in his chest, Alec shrugged off his flannel, leaving him in a thin, grey cotton t-shirt. Without a word Magnus opened the medicine and poured some onto his hand. He glared at the purple bruises decorating Alec's arms and shoulders. Alec wanted to desperately reach for his shirt, but he was determined to remain unmoved, which was hard, especially when Magnus' warm, strong hands spread the salve onto the bruises. Alec winced and bit his lip as he felt the cool liquid touch his heated skin. He let the older boy treat his bruises without a word. Magnus was gentle, careful, almost caring. _No don't think that Alec, he doesn't care about you, he's just a good person_… When he was done, Magnus wiped his hands on his jeans and passed him his flannel. Alec hurriedly pulled it on.

"Thanks."

"That should heal them quicker," Magnus said, his voice steady. He searched Alec's face for a second before grinning and stepping back, "here, let me get that breakfast ready." He gently moved Alec aside and went back to heating the eggs and bacon. Alec opened and closed his mouth a few times,

"Um… that's my job…" He said. Magnus just rolled his eyes and passed him a tea cup,

"No its not. Anyway, you've got a hangover and a little cooking won't hurt me. Now drink the tea, there's some aspirin in the cupboard," Magnus stated matter of factly, Bustling around the kitchen. Alec hid his blush behind the rim of the cup.

* * *

><p>"He's totally into you." Isabelle stated simply, when three hours later Alec recalled the morning to her.<p>

"No he's not, he's just really nice," Alec muttered, hiding the bottom half of his face in the frayed blue scarf wrapped around his neck. Isabelle rolled her dark eyes, they were waiting for the bell, sitting on a bench by one of the old trees. Everyone else was inside because of the cold, but Alec liked to be as far away from people as possible, so he chose the weather over dirty looks, even if the wind nipped at his exposed skin. Isabelle looked flawless as usual, her hat matching her scarf. Alec looked like a homeless person, as usual. He just wore his brothers' old clothes, even though the Morgensterns had enough money to get him new ones, they just chose not to. He secretly didn't mind because he got a chance to wear Magnus' stuff. It was pathetic, really, his little crush on his step brother, but Alec couldn't help him.

"Honey, please, you're so blind it hurts," Isabelle stated, examining her nails as Alec sighed.

"Izzy, seriously, he's not…_into me_, or whatever," Alec flushed, "why would he be? I mean he's hot and popular and nice, and he gets good grades and has an awesome sense of style. Why the hell would he ever look at me twice?"

Izzy stared at him. She blinked, and then sighed, "Oh my gosh, Alec, my blue eyed friend, you are so in love with this dude. And there's plenty of reasons for him to look at you! I mean, you're cute and charming and your blush is adorable, you make the best sandwiches ever and you listen to great music!"

"Iz, you're an amazing best friend, but you're really dumb if you think those things," he said sadly, gathering his bags.

"It's true though!" the girl protested, but the bell went and Alec was already walking towards the building, she shouted after him, "It's totally like Cinderella!"

Alec turned on his heel and yelled back,

"Where's my prince Charming then!"

* * *

><p>School was a mess as usual. Apart from the usual dirty looks he got from his classmates his books got knocked down by Meliorn, one of the popular guys. Alec didn't say anything as he knelt down to pick them up, cheeks burning in shame, but Izzy threatened to punch the boy. She was already excluded once this year because of fighting. Alec admired her, she was so brave, protecting him when he couldn't do so himself.<p>

He slept through maths, his hangover catching up with him, and didn't really write anything down. He and Izzy both bunked PE and decided to eat cupcakes under the bleachers instead. Raphael Santiago, one of the nicer boys in the school let Alec copy his chem notes, so that was a highlight. Except for that nothing happened. At the end of the day Izzy and Alec parted ways, and the boy went onto the packed bus.

He was uncomfortably squeezed in between an old man, and a girl from a year below him. He was about to wedge his arm in between him and the girls back to put his earphones in, when he heard something that got his attention. Not too far from him were two college girls, and they were not so subtly gossiping.

"Did you hear?" One of them asked the other, "About Jace Wayland?"

"Oh my gosh yes!" the other one gushed excitedly, Alec stared at the ground, trying to make it look like he wasn't eavesdropping. He knew Jace Wayland was the son of a couple, Stefan and Celine, in the elite. He caught glimpses of him during some parties of the Morgenstern's when he was giving out drinks and little party sandwiches, he was good looking, but he and Sebastian hated each other, they always competed for the same girls and the place of the hottest boy in school. Sebastian and Jace were in the same year, one above Alec, and he rarely saw them at school.

"Apparently he's on the guest episode of, '_Arranged_!'

"No way! That's amazing! Wait does that mean we can get a chance to meet him?"

"Yeah, this month…"

Alec didn't hear anything else because the two girls stepped off the bus. He didn't know what Arranged was, but he made a mental note to ask Izzy about it tomorrow. He probably should've paid more attention to this piece of gossip, but frankly he didn't care. Whatever the rich idiots were planning, it didn't concern him. He drowned his thoughts in Fall Out Boy music, blaring from his earphones and bleeding into his already tired brain, leaving nothing but an ache behind.

When he got home there was a dark cloud hanging over his head. All he could think about was sleeping off his hangover in bed, but he knew he had a bunch of chores to do. Alec seriously felt like whacking his head against the wall. Repeatedly. He walked into the empty kitchen and checked the note on the fridge.

_Lightwood, _

_Here are your chores for today and yesterday. We are very disappointed that you have left the house without notifying either of us, and you will be punished for your disobedience. Here is the list of things to do before 10 pm tonight:_

_Wash the dishes_

_Prepare diner_

_Vacuum the house (the attic is included)_

_Clean out the swimming pool_

_Tidy Sebastian's and Magnus' bedrooms_

_Wash the floor in the ballroom_

_Clean the windows on the second floor and the parlour..._

The list went on and on. Alec stuffed a fist into his mouth and screamed, he really wasn't up for this. He hated how the Morgenstern's treated him, like he wasn't worth a damn. He ripped the post it note off the fridge and stuffed it in his pocket, and made his way upstairs. He was about to turn a corner when he heard the yelling,

"What do you mean you're not participating?" Lilith shrieked, Alec froze, flattening himself against the wall, listening intently.

"Means I'm not bloody participating," Sebastian answered back, his voice calm, cold, calculating.

"For once I agree with him," Magnus butted in, his voice bored. Alec ignored the surge of warmth it sent through his heart.

"No. No," the boy could hear his step mother pacing along the corridor, "I refuse to believe that the two of you could be so stupid. Jace Wayland is looking for a husband or a wife, and you two _idiots_, want to turn him down?"

Alec has never heard Lilith speak like that to her sons, that's how he knew this was important. He tried to lean forward to catch some more, but being as clumsy as he was, he tripped over his own feet and ended up sprawled on the floor. There was a beat of silence, then,

"LIGHTWOOD HOW DARE YOU EAVESDROP YOU INSULENT BOY!" Lilith screeched. Alec flinched, quickly getting to his feet. His step mother and Sebastian were both glaring at him, Magnus looked impassive. The blonde brother took a step towards him and Alec backed away from the menacing boy.

"I-um, I'm s-sorry, I…" he stuttered, moving backwards. Sebastian's arm shot out and grabbed his shirt. The boy slammed Alec into the closest wall, causing the wind to be knocked out of the dark haired boy. He lifted him up, off the floor,

"You little piece of shit, how fucking dare you listen in on private conversations. You pathetic idiot, I will give you the fucking beating of your life, I swear to God-" Sebastian gritted through his teeth, but he didn't get to finish before Magnus knocked him aside, causing Sebastian to smash against the banister of the stairs.

"Don't. Touch. Him."

Magnus towered over Sebastian, grabbing his shirt in a parody of what the blonde boy did to Alec seconds earlier. Sebastian's eyes flashed with fear, before his mask was back on.

"Let me go, Magnus," he hissed. Alec slid down the wall, his heart hammering in his chest, threatening to escape. Lilith looked between her two sons, her face red with rage.

"LET HIM GO MAGNUS!" she yelled, but didn't make a move to separate her sons. Magnus ignored her, fist tightening in Sebastian's expensive shirt. His younger brother looked like a rag doll in his grip.

"Let him go, Magnus," Alec said softly, his legs shaking as he stood up. For a second nothing happened and then Magnus loosened his fist and Sebastian dropped to the floor in a heap. He glared at his brother, and Lilith massaged her temples.

"We will return to this topic later," she said as if nothing happened, "Alec, bring me a green tea and aspirin at once," she ordered. Magnus hands twitched at his sides,

"No he won't bring you tea, _mother_," he spat the last word, grabbing Alec's wrist gently, but firmly. He proceeded to pull the stunned boy along the corridor.

"What do you mean?! Where are you taking him?! Magnus answer me at once!" Lilith yelled after them. Magnus rolled his eyes,

"We're going out."

"Where?!" His mother asked, exasperated.

"_Out_," Magnus stated, pulling Alec into his room.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry about that," Magnus said minutes later, rummaging through his wardrobe.<p>

"It's okay," he muttered, gripping Magnus' purple covers in his hands tightly, "I-um, thanks for defending me…"

"It was about time someone put that idiot in his place," Magnus answered with a charming, warm smile in place as he emerged from the wardrobe, he was carrying an armful of clothes in his arms. He spread them on the bed, and began sorting through them.

"So, um, what did you guys argue over?" he asked, to break the silence. Magnus sighed,

"You heard about Arranged, right?" Magnus asked, his voice not betraying any emotion,

"Not really," Alec admitted, shrugging.

"Basically it's a TV show where rich bastards choose twenty people to go live with them in a mansion, and then they eliminate the ones they don't like, until there's one left, and they get married to them," Alec cringed and Magnus grinned, "I know _sooo_ romantic. Anyway, Jace Wayland, you know who that is?" Alec nodded quickly, "Yeah well, he's on the special episode. So he's organising a ball where everyone's invited and in one night he chooses his fiancé." Alec gaped at him,

"In _one night_?!" he stammered, Magnus nodded solemnly, "Let me guess, your mom wants you to go?"

"Yeah, unfortunately," Magnus said tightly, indicating that the conversation was finished. He suddenly brightened up and threw a couple pieces of clothing at Alec, "change into that."

Alec blinked at him, clutching the clothes. Magnus grinned at him mischievously,

"I wasn't lying we're really going out! Now hurry up and change."

* * *

><p>"I'm not really a party type," Alec stated ten minutes later, playing with the hem of his, correction, Magnus' shirt.<p>

They were comfortably seated in Magnus' car, soft dubstep was playing from the speakers and Magnus was drumming a beat to it on the steering wheel, waiting for the light to change to green.

"Stop complaining. I bet you've never been to one before," he said simply, smiling at Alec. The black hair boy blushed because, admittedly, he hadn't. Still, he felt ridiculous and uncomfortable in the blue t-shirt, jeans that weren't ripped, a leather jacket and boots. They were all Magnus' clothes so he had to make a few adjustments to them, to make them fit. The older boy looked perfectly, well, perfect, in his bright purple button down shirt. Still, Alec was happy to embrace any reason to get out of the mansion, which included going to a party with Magnus Morgenstern. He cringed at himself, parties meant dancing, and Alec was definitely not the most graceful human being. That would be Magnus.

They pulled up to a large house, similar to the Morgensterns, which was strangely quiet. Maybe the party hasn't started yet? Magnus hopped out of the car, and Alec tumbled out after him,

"C'mon, I want you to meet someone," Magnus said, waving Alec over and knocking on the white painted doors. Alec shyly followed him, stuffing his hands into his pockets. The door swung open and a girl stepped forward, smiling welcomingly at them.

"Magnus darling!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the said boy. Alec only had time to note her chin length white hair, before he was being pulled into a hug, the girl squeezing him happily like they were long lost friends, "You must be Alec! Magnus told me so much about you!"

"_Catarina_!" Magnus hissed as Alec blushed, fidgeting.

"Sorry, sorry," she winked, "I'm Catarina Loss, Magnus' best friend!"

"Oh hell no!_ I'm_ Magnus' best friend, swerve Cat!" a boy yelled, pushing past Catarina to throw his arm around Magnus. He had dark eyes and messy hair, which was also white,

"This is Ragnor," Magnus said rolling his eyes at his friend, "guys, this is Alec."

"_Oh, we know_," the two said at the same time, giving Magnus twin pointed looks. Magnus glared at them and opened his mouth to say something, but Catarina already had her arm around Alec and was leading him inside,

"Let's leave those two idiots to themselves, I need some help with the snacks, care to help?"

"I-um, sure…" Alec said hesitantly, following the girl into the kitchen as Ragnor and Magnus argued outside.

* * *

><p>Skip forward two and a half hours later, and here we are. The huge house is brewing with people, some in t-shirts in jeans, others in dresses and suits, and yet others in onesies or neon clothes. Alec didn't expect so many people to show up, but he guessed that Catarina was obviously popular.<p>

He was actually enjoying himself, he drank a beer, and sat in the corner, content with his apple juice. He didn't want to get drunk…again. Everywhere around him people were pissed, couples making out, people stumbling round, half naked, others dancing like there's no tomorrow. A couple of people were passed out in corners, and Alec lost track of Catarina and Ragnor and Magnus a long time ago. Sometimes he saw a flicker of white hair, but he didn't want to bother the hosts with his social skills. Or rather, the lack of them.

So yeah, he was sitting in a corner, content with his apple juice, when a girl came towards him, stumbling slightly. She was kind of drunk, but not totally and he plopped down next to Alec.

"Hey," she yelled over the music, smiling brightly at Alec, her green eyes sparkling.

"Hi," Alec answered, scanning the crowd for anyone who he knew.

"I came to talk to you because you seemed kinda lonely," the girl said, flipping her curly hair over her shoulder, "I'm Clary. Clary Fray."

"Alec."

"Ohhh," Clary smiled, "You're Alec."

"What _Alec_?" Alec snapped. Clary's smile turned mischievous,

"Magnus' Alec."

Alec choked on air, his eyes going wide, but before he knew what was going on, Clary was gone, the place next to him replaced by a different girl. She was dressed in a neon pink dress and was smiling at him sweetly,

"Hey, I'm Maureen, wanna dance?" she asked, already tugging on his hand.

"I, um, c-can't dance," Alec stuttered, but he was already in the cluster of people. Bodies pressed around him from all sides and his nose was assaulted by the smell of alcohol and sweat. He tried to make himself smaller, but anywhere he turned, there were people. Maureen was wildly dancing to the beat, her attention on someone else by now. Alec stood awkwardly in the moving mass of bodies for about a minute, before ducking under someone's arm, determined to find an exit.

That, however, was not meant to be, because someone flailed their arm suddenly and sent Alec sprawling into a wall. His body ached with old and new bruises and Alec winced. He really just wanted to be out in the fresh air, but he didn't want to risk getting trampled to death. Thankfully his salvation came, in the form of his step brother.

"Magnus!" Alec called, before he could stop himself. Magnus looked up, his eyes focusing on Alec, he smiled and pushed through the crowd, making it to Alec.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked casually, a cheshire grin on his face. Alec blushed, now that Magnus was here, he didn't know what to say to him. _Can we go home please?_ Sounded great in theory, but he didn't want to ruin the other boys evening, not when he tried so hard to get him out of the house. Suddenly the music was turned down and Ragnor's voice boomed over the chatter of the people,

"Now a slow jam for all my couples out there!" he called and the crowd erupted into cheers. The music was turned up again, and this time something soft and slow was playing. The lights dimmed even more and some candles were lit, giving off a warm glow and setting the atmosphere. Ragnor grabbed Catarina's hand and dragged her into the middle of the room, they began to sway, slightly drunkenly, to the music. Soon more and more couples joined them, and a few single people, dancing with friends or in groups.

"Come dance with me," Magnus said unexpectedly. The blue eyed boys heart skipped a beat and he frantically shook his head, but before he could utter a word Magnus was already pulling him into the crowd. Alec was thankful for the lighting choice because he was sure Magnus would've seen his blush otherwise. His thought track was cut short when Magnus' arm suddenly went around his waist, his free hand grabbing Alec's and linking their fingers together. A surprised sound escaped Alec's mouth and quickly looked down, avoiding Magnus' eyes. Magnus gently pulled him closer and, not knowing what to do with himself, Alec's hand went up to Magnus' shoulder, clutching onto his shirt. Magnus chuckled and Alec blushed even more, burying his face where his hand was. They began turning in soft circles and Alec's eyes fluttered shut as Magnus' hand moved to the small of his back. The smaller boy had no idea how much time had passed since he found himself in Magnus' arms but he was sure that they were the best – minutes? Hours? – of his life. Magnus' arms felt strong around him and he felt safe, like Sebastian and Lilith and Valentine, and their anger and hatred couldn't get him there. Without realising it he pressed closer to the taller boy, and peeked over his shoulder. Ragnor was twirling Catarina close by, and the girl grinned and winked at him.

When the song did eventually end, Alec pulled away hurriedly, his cheeks flaming. The beat came back on and more bodies packed themselves onto the dance floor.

"Let's go home," Magnus said, leaning in whispering into Alec's ear so the boy could hear him. Alec ignored the shiver that went through him and nodded, grabbing onto Magnus' hand instinctively, to not get lost in the crowd. He panicked and tried to pull his hand away, but Magnus just smiled reassuringly and laced their fingers together again. The two began to weave their way through the bodies, avoiding bumping people as much as they could. Magnus found Catarina and Ragnor in the corner, taking shots, and he let them know that they were leaving. Catarina kissed both of them on the cheek and Ragnor waved at them, and just as they were about to walk through the front door Catarina grabbed Magnus and whispered something into his ear.

Seconds later they were outside. The cold air hit Alec's flushed face, but it did nothing to calm the fast beating of his heart. Magnus let go of his hand to quickly and Alec desperately wanted it back, but he didn't say anything. The two of them piled into the car and Magnus turned on the radio, humming along to whatever was playing. Wheels turned in the younger boys head, and he thought of something to say. In the end he couldn't muster the courage to open his mouth, so he dosed off.

* * *

><p>The next morning Alec woke up with no recollection of how he got to bed, damn he couldn't even remember getting out of the car. He surveyed his room lazily and noticed that his jeans were neatly folded on the dresser. A flush crawled up his face, because the only explanation was that Magnus had taken them off, Alec hadn't been drunk enough to do it and not remember. Right? <em>Right<em>? The boy buried his face in the pillow, thankful that at least his t-shirt was still on.

His eyes wandered to his bedside clock, and his heart skipped a beat. _10:14. _Alec shot up and was out of his bed in seconds. Sure it was a Saturday, but to him it didn't mean anything – he was meant to wake up at 8, like every weekend, but for some reason his alarm didn't go off. He didn't shower, just tugged on some clean clothes, brushed his teeth and sprinted down the stairs.

He burst into the living room like a cannonball, to see the rest of his 'family' sitting at the table, drinking tea and eating pastries from the bakers down the street. All heads snapped up as soon as he entered.

"Sorry I'm late!" Alec apologized hurriedly. To his surprise Lilith put her coffee down and smiled at him,

"Oh don't worry, darling," she said, with a little wave, "everyone deserves to sleep in sometimes! Why don't you sit down with us, hmm?"

Alec blinked at her. What the hell was going on? Lilith was never, _ever_ nice. And she certainly never invited him to sit at the table with them. Still, she asked him to, so he shuffled over and sat at the edge of the closest chair. Lilith patted his knee but Sebastian only glared. At least he was normal.

"So, honey, did you hear about the TV show 'Arranged?'" Lilith asked him, with her fake smile. Alec nodded slowly, "Ah!" his step mother exclaimed, delighted, "lovely. Well you see Sebastian and Magnus here," she gestured at her two sons. Sebastian was sitting with his arms crossed over his chest and Magnus was drinking coffee, looking bored, "have agreed to participate in the special episode!"

Alec took a second to understand what he just heard. Sebastian and _Magnus,_ are going to go to some ball to try and win the host over so they can get _married_? _His _Magnus?! Alec opened and closed his mouth, trying to process this information. He met Magnus' gaze, but the other boy's eyes were unreadable. After a moment of silence Alec cleared his throat,

"I, um, t-that's great," he mumbled, hands clutched in his lap. Sebastian smirked,

"Of course you can't go," he stated.

"I don't want to," Alec replied, he felt sick. _See? See!?_ _This is what happens when you give yourself hope! Izzy got to your head, idiot, you went to one bloody party and what? You thought Magnus Morgenstern would look at you twice after that?!_ he yelled at himself in his head.

"Well," Sebastian rolled his eyes, "you're not going."

"I don't fucking want to, okay?!" Alec snapped, before he could stop himself. Everyone stared at him, and a silence settled over the table. Even Valentine put his paper down to pay attention. Alec blushed with embarrassment and was about to apologize but Lilith cut in,

"Sebastian!" she looked at her son, disapprovingly, "we heard you the first time. Don't pay any attention to him, Alec," she turned to her step son, "anyway, I am very sorry about the short notice but I need you to go out very soon and purchase some suits and shoes for the boys."

"Okay," Alec said numbly, "Okay," he repeated. Lilith clapped her hands, a smile blooming on her face,

"Thank you, darling! Now here, come with me, I'll show you exactly what you should look for. Hodge will drive you there, while I'll take the boys to the barbers. The ball is tonight so please be quick…"

Lilith droned on as she led Alec into her office to show him pictures of expensive suits. And the only thing that filled Alec's head was that he lost his last chance.

* * *

><p>An hour later Alec clambered out of the limousine.<p>

"That shop there," the driver, old Hodge, pointed to a building, "you should find all you need."

"Thanks," Alec muttered, slamming the door closed. The limo pulled away, and Hodge went to look for somewhere to park. The boy scanned the area, looking for his best friend, who he had texted to meet him.

"Alec!" Isabelle waved at him from a bench, "over here!" she got up and jogged up to him, pulling him into a hug, "Tell me everything that happened! _Now_!"

* * *

><p>"So wait, you guys <em>slow danced<em>?" Izzy hissed as the two ducked through the racks of suits. Alec nodded, ignoring the dirty looks the other customers were giving them. There was a member of staff following them closely behind. Alec sighed, he didn't have a mind to look at these suits now.

"But," Alec said as Izzy eyed a shirt with distaste, "he's going on 'Arranged'."

"Yeah, so?" his friend didn't seem to get what the problem was, "A lot of people are going just for the sake of it, not for Jace himself."

"I don't know…" Alec muttered, he didn't want to give himself false hope, _again_. He caught sight of a bright purple shirt and felt a pang in his chest, it was probably something Magnus would like to wear, "let's get that one," Alec pointed to it before he could talk himself out of it. Izzy gave him a look but picked it up without a word.

* * *

><p>"THE SHIRT IS BLOODY PURPLE FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!" Lilith screeched when Alec presented her with the suits, her good mood long gone. Alec shrugged,<p>

"I thought Magnus would like it," he stated emotionlessly, holding up the two suits in his hands. Sebastian's one was a normal black and white one.

"I would like what?" Magnus asked, stepping into Lilith's office, chomping on an apple. His eyes sparkled when he caught sight of the suits, "dibs!" he called, grabbing the one with the purple shirt. Alec tried to hide his smile, while Lilith glared at her oldest son,

"You think this is funny don't you?!" her attention was back on Alec. The little bubble of happiness that appeared inside him when he saw the smile on Magnus' face disappeared, replaced once again by the void. The boy shrugged.

"You little piece of shit!" Lilith yelled, lifting her hand. Before anyone could react she brought it down, striking the boy. Alec felt pain burst in his cheek, which was now bright red. Tears gathered in his eyes, and he lowered his head, letting his hair hide his face, "you can't even do one thing properly! Get out of my sight, you disgrace!"

"Yes, mother," Alec whispered lifelessly, stepping around her and Magnus, ignoring the other boys outstretched hand.

"I am not your mother," Lilith hissed after him. It hurt more than the slap, even though Alec knew it was true.

* * *

><p>He only let the tears fall half an hour later, after Izzy climbed in through the window and put her arms around him, calling Lilith a 'bitter old bitch.'<p>

"What do you mean you're going?" Alec asked numbly, playing with the hem of his hoodie. Izzy shuffled from one foot to the other, not meeting his eyes.

"I-um, well…I got an invitation," Izzy choked out, "and, I thought, that I should, go?"

Alec stared at her blankly for a second before forcing a tiny smile on his face,

"That's great Iz," he said, voice hoarse from sobbing earlier, "you should totally go."

"But I feel bad for leaving you here all by yourself," she said guiltily, sitting down next to her best friend. Alec rolled his eyes,

"C'mon this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You should go, seriously. I'm probably just gonna finish my chores and go to sleep, and you know how bad at cleaning you are," he joked. Izzy cracked a smile,

"Well, okay then. I'm gonna be on my way," she gave Alec a bone shattering hug, "you sure you'll be alright?"

"I'm sure, don't worry," Alec said with a small chuckle, herding Izzy to the window, "now go before I change my mind and chain you to a wall."

Izzy pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and then gracefully slid out of the window. She grabbed a ledge and jumped to the windowsill below her. In no time she was running through the driveway, waving and blowing kisses at Alec, until he couldn't see her anymore in the dark.

"LIGHTWOOD!" Lilith's voice drifted from downstairs. Alec winced, checking his reflection in the mirror to see if you could see that he'd been crying, before nearly tripping down the stairs. He was greeted by all four Morgensterns standing by the door. Lilith wore a long, sparkling dress with a slit that showed her pale leg, and heels that could rival with Izzy's. Valentine and Sebastian wore the same black and white suits, their light blonde hair styled perfectly. Magnus was leaning against the wall, the purple shirt clinging to his chest, his hair spiked up. Alec felt himself flush and quickly looked away,

"Y-yes?" he asked. Lilith glared at him, letting Hodge put a coat on her,

"We are leaving now. You will complete the chores from the past three days before we return, is that clear?"

"Yes," Alec nodded, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Magnus. The other boy looked alert, trying to get Alec's attention, "Is that everything?"

"Don't even think about coming to the ball," Sebastian hissed before Lilith could answer. Alec sighed inwardly,

"I won't," he said. Lilith nodded contently, and they all sauntered out as Hodge opened the door.

"Alec…" Magnus turned towards him, and the blue eyed boys heart skipped a beat,

"Have fun," he said with a tight smile, before sprinting up the stairs. He just wanted to get this over and done with and go to sleep.

When he was sure he heard the limo drive away he creeped back downstairs in the dark. When he got to the kitchen he flipped the switch on and ripped the paper of the fridge. There were a few points added underneath the ones he read last night. Alec scrolled through it and decided that cleaning the boys' rooms would be a good thing to start with. He turned around, ready to start his chores, when he nearly ran face first into a woman.

"Excuse you," she sneered. Alec stumbled back, wondering where the hell this bitch came from. She had perfectly curled blonde hair and was wearing a blood red dress that hugged her curves. She crossed her arms over her busty chest and gave Alec a disapproving look. The boy winced when he realized that she was taller than him,

"Give the boy a break, Cam," a man around Magnus' age stepped forward. Alec gaped. His hair was a few shades darker than the woman's, and he was wearing a rumbled looking, old suit. He wore a monocle in one sparkling green eye. But more importantly, he hadn't been in the kitchen two seconds ago.

"W-who are you?" Alec sputtered, backing up against the fridge.

"Woolsey Scott," the man said with a charming smile, "this is Camille Belcourt. We are erm...old friends of Magnus."

"H-how did you g-get in?" Alec stuttered, looking around for a weapon. If the two decided to hurt him, there was no way he'd be able to stop them. Woolsey rolled his eyes, casually leaning against a counter, he had a bundle under his arm wrapped in brown paper,

"Calm down, biscuit, we're not going to eat you," he said calmly, "well she might, but only if you piss her off," he gestured to Camille.

"Silence, Woolsey, you know why we came here," the woman said coldly. She nodded at the packed and the man reluctantly passed it to her. She carelessly tossed it to Alec and he clumsily caught it, and his first thought was that it was a bomb. Then he realized it was too soft for that.

"What is it?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"You'll find out when you open it," Camille hissed. Alec flinched but quickly ripped the brown paper. A white shirt, dark trousers, a tie and a black blazer tumbled out, and ended up in a heap on the floor. Alec stared at the pile and then at the two newcomers, "um…what is this?" he asked. Camille and Woolsey sighed at the same time.

"Dimwit," Woolsey said, glaring at the ceiling.

"It's your outfit," Camille deadpanned. Alec gave her a quizzical look, "For the ball."

"Oh by the angel, listen kid," Woolsey stood in front of Alec all of a sudden, "you will put this goddamned suit on, and you will go to the goddamned party for 'Arranged' hosted by the goddamn Jace Wayland. No questions asked, no returns or exchanges, you're going and that's that."

"Precisely," Camille added with a smile. Alec stared at them,

"Why are you doing this?" he blurted. Woolsey's eyes sparkled,

"Let's just say we owe Magnus. Now off you go change, and if you don't go to this party Camille here will find you and kick your butt. The car's outside," Woolsey reached for Camille's hand,

"One rule only, you have to get home midnight latest. Ciao!" Camille winked, and when Alec blinked they were gone like they've never been there in the first place, the only thing they left behind were the clothes at Alec's feet.

And a thought appeared in his brain.

What if he went to Arranged.

And won over Jace.

And threw that in Magnus' face, to show him that he didn't mean anything to him.

And he wouldn't have to live with the Morgenstern's.

And he'd be free.

A huge smile blossomed on Alec's face and he was sure that Woolsey and Camille were his guardian angels. He burst into the bathroom and pulled on the clothes as quickly as he could. He didn't know how but the suit fit him perfectly, somehow making him look…appealing? He ran a hand through his hair and it fell perfectly, the way it never did. Alec blinked, surely this was his lucky day, God's way of apologising for the years of misery he gave him. His spirit dropped a bit when he realized there were no shoes to match his outfit. Resignedly he reached for his old, battered black converse and pulled them on.

Alec stumbled outside, letting the door slam closed behind him, and his breath hitched. Parked in his driveway was a sleek black car with no markings on it to indicated what type it could be. It seemed to sparkle with energy and the windows were tinted. Alec took a hesitant step forward and the door in the back sprung open, inviting him in. The boy raised his chin and determinedly walked up to the car. He slipped inside, and looked around in awe. The seats were black, incredibly comfortable, leather, and there was a champagne glass and a letter on the empty seat next to him. Alec carefully reached for the champagne and took a small sip as he picked up the letter. A smile exploded on his face, it was an invitation to the ball.

"Where to?" a bored voice called from the front. Alec's head snapped up and he saw a girl peeked at him. She has ashy blonde, curly hair, similar to Camille's but had a different face, with more childish features and stormy brown eyes, "where to?" she repeated more urgently when Alec didn't answer.

"I-uh…" Alec stuttered, not sure where Jace Wayland lived exactly, "the 'Arranged' party?"

"Gotcha," the blonde girl muttered, turning the wheel, "Jessamine, by the way."

"Alec."

And suddenly the car was wildly speeding forward. With a wild lurch it hopped off the pavement and into the air. Alec screeched,

"Shush blue eyes," Jessamine called from the front, "buckle up, it's gonna be a wild ride," she added grinning at him in the review mirror. The car continued to rise above the buildings, swinging from side to side. Alec clutched to the seat in front of him, his knuckles white. Jessamine fiddled with the radio station and put on some Mozart. She rolled down the window and a cold wind filled the inside of the car, cooling Alec's face. He took a deep breath and settled back against the seats, relaxing and deciding to trust this weird girl. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the music, ignoring the unsteady car until the movements went away. This was clearly magic. That or Alec was crazy. Yup, definitely crazy. He sighed and decided to just go with it. After all what was the worst thing that could happen. He could wake up in his bed at home, or in a mental ward. He didn't really care at this point. He let the movements of the car lull him into bliss, half between sleep and half between reality.

"Oi sweet cheeks!" Jessamine called, waking him up, "prepare yourself, we're gonna land."

"We're here?" Alec asked, alert, and suddenly nervous.

"Yup. Wayland manor straight ahead," Jessamine confirmed, pressing a few buttons on the control, "Okay hold on."

So Alec did, clutching the seat in front of him again, desperately, and squeezing his eyes closed. There was an impact with the ground like when an airplane lands, and then the car swayed a bit, before slowing down to a normal speed. Alec opened his eyes to see fancy mansions speeding past him. He sighed, relaxed and leaned back, as the car came around a corner, revealing the Wayland manor, lit by thousands of lights. There were cars parked everywhere and reporters and camera crews swarmed the place. Fancy guests came out of limousines and expensive cars, and made their way inside. Alec's hands felt clammy,

"I can't do this," he muttered. Jessamine pulled into an empty spot and turned around to glare at him,

"Yes you can," she stated firmly, "you can and you will. Listen, we don't always get what we want but if you ever want to get out of the Morgenstern's house and have an actual life, you must take any chance you can get. And sorry to break it to you, but this _is_ all you get. This one party can make the biggest difference in your life, or it can be meaningless. I can drive you back home and you can do your chores and bury your dreams and go to sleep. Or you can get out of this goddamned car and find who you're looking for and get out of that hellhole forever. You have a choice in this, many of us don't. I'm stuck driving this fucking car until I actually make a difference to someone's life, you could your ticket out as much as mine. So don't screw this up, Alexander."

Alec's heart gave a painful thud in his chest when Jessamine said his full name, but he decided he was okay with her saying it.

"Okay," he said, grabbing the invitation. Jessamine smiled softly,

"That's my boy, now get out of here, I'll be waiting when you get back."

"Thanks, Jessie," Alec said, grinning, and he climbed out of the car, slamming the door, Immediately the car sped away, around the corner and out of eye sight. Alec sighed, gathered his courage and turned towards the manor. He was terrified what people would think of him, that he would be found out. But Jessamine's words rang in his head and he refused to back down. So he made his way down a carpet meant for the guests, ducking his head away from the flashing lights of reporters cameras. Ignoring the shouts and pleads for interviews. He followed the couple in front of him, trying to not stand out. Apparently it worked because he got to the bodyguard standing in front of the entrance without an incident.

"Invitation please, sit," the man said curtly, his expression unreadable. Alec's hand shook as he passed the man the envelope. The guard glanced down at it and then gestured at the entrance, "welcome sir, this way please."

Alec muttered a quick 'thanks' before ducking under the guards arm. He was embraced by warmth as soon as he entered the hall. Some man asked for his coat but Alec didn't have one so he ignored him. There weren't many people here, most of them were newcomers, making their way towards the main hall. Alec nervously wrung his hands together and followed where most of people were going. He passed a staircase that was guarded at the top, and saw a girl sitting on one of the lower steps, her face in her hands. Alec felt a pang in his chest and promptly changed direction, heading towards the girl. He plopped down next to her and she looked up. He expected her to be crying, but she just looked plain miserable. And weirdly familiar.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she answered. Alec studied her. She had curly ginger hair and green, lifeless eyes. There were freckles scattered across her pale skin and her long, green dress matched her eyes. He frowned

"Clary?!" it clicked suddenly, "What's wrong?" Alec asked, crossing his legs. Clary sighed,

"Oh hi Alec, weird guy I met at some party. Why do you care?"

"Oh jeez, sorry, maybe because you're sitting in the middle of the staircase at some rich ass party?" he said sarcastically, "I was just trying to be nice, sorry." He made a move to stand up, but Clary grabbed his sleeve,

"Sorry," she muttered, giving him a small smile, "I thought you'd hit on me."

"Confident much," Alec sat back down, rolling his eyes, "but now I, um, swing the other way."

"Oh," Clary laughed softly, "Fairchild's the surname. Clarissa Fairchild," she stuck her hand out at him. Alec shook it, giving the girl a smile,

"Alec Lightwood," he said before he could stop himself. He winced when Clary's eyes went wide.

"You're _Alec Lightwood_?!" she stuttered. Alec sighed,

"Surprise," he muttered sourly. Clary just stared at him, "What?" he snapped.

"Nothing, I just…well, I thought you'd be more…rough around the edges," she said hesitantly. Alec blinked at her,

"Wow, thanks," Alec leaned his chin on his hand.

"No I didn't mean it in a rude way!" Clary assured, "You're just not what I expected."

"I never am," Alec said sadly, "So what's wrong? Why are you sitting here?"

"Boy drama," Clary muttered into her knees. The people rolling past gave them dirty looks.

"Tell me about it," Alec huffed. Clary grinned at him, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"Have you ever felt like you grew really close with someone and you thought that, you know, there were feelings between you two. But then suddenly he does something unexpected and makes you doubt everything. Because he never said anything and you're not sure he _cares_," Clary sighed in frustration, running a hand through her hair as Alec's mouth ran dry.

"Surprisingly, I actually have felt like that," he whispered, "Okay, so what is this about?" he asked, "You can tell me, I doubt we'll ever meet after tonight anyway."

Clary looked at him, and then shrugged,

"I wouldn't be so sure, seems like we have a habit of bumping into eachother. Well whatever I guess," she took a deep breath, "basically me and Jace have been friends for a long time…"

"That _Jace_?" Alec's eyes bulged, "as in Jace Wayland?!"

"Yes that Jace," Clary gave him a 'duh' look, "but anyway I thought that we were growing closer you know. We went out all the time, and sneaked out. I stayed with him last summer because I don't live here usually. And well, we went to parties and talked all night and slept in the same bed, but _nothing _happened…" Clary trailed off, "and I guess I fell in love with him along the way," her voice came out choked, "and, well, now he throws this party, and he's looking for a wife or a husband and how the hell am I meant to compete with everyone here?!" she asked dejectedly, tears gathering in her eyes. Alec's heart softened and he reached out to put an arm around the girls shoulders, knowing that his plan just went to shit. There was no way, no _fucking_ way, that he would try and seduce Jace Wayland to get out of the Morgenstern's house, and break this girls heart even more. She loved that boy and Alec was not about to go and destroy the love. Someone once told him that to love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be destroyed. And he wouldn't help with the destroying.

"C'mon," Alec said, getting to his feet suddenly and sticking a hand out to Clary. The girl looked at him, puzzled, "Just come on," Alec repeated. The ginger sighed and let Alec pull her to her feet. The walked down the stairs and followed the crowd into ballroom,

"_Alec_," Clary hissed, "C'mon I don't want to do this!"

"Just trust me. Maybe this Jace boy really does care," Alec muttered more to himself than to Clary. The ballroom was bigger and grander than the one at Morgenstern manor. The windows were decorated in Christmas lights, and there was mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. Two large Christmas trees stood in two corners of the room, and there were long tables filled with Christmas foods by the sides. Couples were up on the dancefloor, twirling to the tasteful music.

"It's a Christmas party," Alec stated dryly, "should've known."

"Does this change anything?" Clary asked. Alec just grinned,

"Nope, except the fact that you match the decorations!"

Clary whacked him playfully on the arm, and Alec just rolled his eyes and tugged her towards the twirling crowd,

"Do you know how to dance?" she asked, carefully putting her arms around Alec's shoulders.

"Actually I was hoping you knew," Alec said sheepishly.

"You're in luck my friend," Clary said happily, moving Alec's hand to her waist. They kind of blended in with the couples but Alec has never danced with a girl, especially a short one, and he accidently stepped on Clary's foot. Instead of getting offended the ginger giggled and stepped on his foot back. Alec glared at her jokingly, and she stuck her tounge out at him. In retaliation he spun her without a warning. Clary yelped but Alec's quick reflexes helped when he caught her.

"Idiot," she said when he pulled her upright, "enough dancing for you!" she said and pulled him of the dancefloor.

They ended up sitting by one of the walls, eating little party sandwiches,

"Do you even know anyone here?" Clary asked with her mouthful. Alec nodded and scanned the crowd,

"Oh! That's Ragnor Fell and Catarina Loss," Alec pointed his chin to the spinning couple, "And obviously Sebastian," he rolled his eyes when he spotted his step brother, "and, um…M-Magnus…and…oh! That's Izzy over there! OI IZZY!" he called, waving an arm at his friend. The girls eyes lit up when she spotted him and she all but ran towards him.

"Alec!" she squealed, pulling him into a hug, "what are you doing here?! I thought…I thought, oh my God, nice suit…where, wait…what?!" she asked breathless, smiling from ear to ear, "actually don't tell me. Probably magic. This party's a bore, who's your little friend?"

"Clary," the ginger introduced herself,

"Isabelle, call me Izzy," Izzy nodded at her, "so anyway Alec how did you get here?"

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later. Just remind me to leave at midnight," Alec said. Isabelle nodded,

"So what are you two up to?" she asked.

"We're trying to get Jace to notice Clary because they're basically in the same situation that me and Magnus are in, except she actually has a chance."

"Hey, that was a secret!" Clary smacked his arm, "and oooh, so Magnus is the one you told me about, ey?" she wiggled her eyebrows at him. Alec flushed,

"W-what, n-no…this…this isn't about us, it's about you and Jace!" Alec gushed as the two girls giggled.

"Whatever you say, Alec," Izzy teased, "anyway I like this whole love plot thingy so I'm going to volunteer as tribute to help you."

"Oh my God! I love the hunger games!" Clary exclaimed, "team Gale all the way!"

Isabelle high fived her and Alec rolled his eyes,

"Let's concentrate here," Alec snapped his fingers in front of their faces, "we need to get Jace, hmm... jealous. Yeah, that usually works. Speaking of, where is wonderboy?" he peered at the crowd,

"There the one with the blonde hair," Clary flushed and pointed her chin at a boy who was in the corner, speaking with his father, Stephan.

"Um, I know how this can work!" Izzy raised her hand like she was in a class,

"Yes?" Alec asked while Clary looked at them skeptically.

"You see how Jace and Sebastian always liked the same girls?" Izzy asked. Alec's eyes narrowed at the mention of his step brother, but he nodded, "well if I'm right than Jace really does care and that means so does Sebastian," there was an evil glint in Izzy's dark eyes. She then proceeded to laugh. Loudly and manically. A few heads turned, and so did his step brothers, who made his way towards them, wait! WHAT?! Alec quickly linked arms with Izzy,

"We'll be close by, I can't let him see me!" he hissed at Clary before dragging Izzy away. They hid in an alcove where they had a good view of the two and could hear what they were saying. Sebastian sauntered towards the ginger girl, a lazy but charming smile in place,

"Hello," he said. Clary glanced at where Izzy and Alec were hiding before putting on her own fake smile,

"Hi," she said sweetly. Sebastian stood way too close for comfort, and he placed an arm on the side of Clary's head, trapping her in. Alec hurriedly scanned the crowd and he felt like whooping when he saw Jace's head snap up. He swore he saw the blonde's eyes narrow at the sight of Clary with Sebastian, and he began to push his way through the dancing masses.

"So what's a pretty girl like you doing here all by herself, eh?" Sebastian asked slyly. Clary fidgeted uncomfortably,

"I, um, I just…" she trailed of and Sebastian smiled creepily.

"You're at loss of words I see," he said, moving closer, "well no worries, we don't have to talk…"

Clary sent a panicked look towards Izzy and Alec and the boy had to hold back his friend to stop her from charging to Clary's rescue, because right then Jace appeared at Sebastian's shoulder, and roughly pulled the blonde away from Clary.

"Back of Morgenstern," he growled. Sebastian looked startled for a second and then his face relaxed into a smirk,

"Oh? Wayland to the rescue," he gritted, "well, don't just assume this lady doesn't appreciate my company."

"I don't appreciate your company," Clary stated bluntly.

"Exactly, so fuck off," Jace added sweetly. Sebastian's expression darkened and he was about to open his mouth to say something, but Magnus appeared out of nowhere.

"Sorry, is my brother bothering you?" he asked calmly, but with a threatening undertone. Clary quickly glanced at Alec and that did it. Magnus followed his gaze and his eyes locked with Alec's. His surprise was quickly replaced with calm mask. He smiled politely at Clary and Jace,

"Sebastian fuck off," he told his brother. Sebastian ripped his shoulder away from Magnus' hand, huffed a 'whatever' and walked off.

"Clary let's dance," Jace blurted. Clary blinked at him and then blushed cutely,

"Okay," she shrugged and let Jace pull her away. She turned quickly and Isabelle gave her a thumbs up sign. However Alec was too busy concentrating on Magnus, who was determinedly walking towards them.

"Izzy, _Iz_, we have to go," he breathed, tugging on his friends hand. Isabelle looked up,

"Shit!" she hissed, but it was too late, Magnus was already standing in front of them, "I-um, I'ma go," Isabelle muttered, looked guiltily at Alec, and slipped away. Alec opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out. Eventually he didn't say anything and just stared at Magnus' chest, because he couldn't bear to look him in the eye.

"Alec," Magnus said softly, "You look…I-"

"Please don't tell Lilith," Alec blurted, red as a tomato.

"I...I won't," Magnus said resignedly, he gently reached out and cupped Alec's chin, causing the boy's heartbeat to pick up, and their eyes to meet, "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story," Alec muttered, determined to not break. Magnus sighed and studied the younger boys face,

"Did you come here to try and win Jace over?" he asked after a moment,

"Did you?" Alec retaliated. Magnus looked away but Alec didn't have time to celebrate his victory.

"No," Magnus said, "I made a deal with my mother."

"You did?" Alec raised an eyebrow.

"I told her I'd come to this stupid party, because she knew if I went then Sebastian would go to. She didn't want me to go for Jace, she was more eager on Sebastian doing that. But he wouldn't go without me. So mother said I could, erm, take something important to me with me when I moved…"

"You're moving out?!" Alec asked, eyes wide,

"Yes," Magnus nodded, "I'm cutting the family off."

"And Lilith is okay with this?" Alec asked, unbelieving.

"She has no choice," Magnus shrugged, "I'm an adult. But anyway I had to agree to this deal otherwise…"

He didn't get to finish because at the same time the music quietened down, and all the lights concentrated on the stage. Jace was standing up there, looking happier than ever.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you so much for coming to this ball tonight. I would like to thank all the people from 'Arranged' as they, well, _arranged _this whole thing," a chuckle broke through the crowd, "but unfortunately the party is over, as I have chosen my bride."

Yells and applause exploded through the crowd and Jace grinned, quietening them down with his hand.

"Without further ado, I present my beautiful fiancée, Clarissa Fairchild!"

The crowd was cheering so loud Alec thought he might've gone deaf, but he didn't mind because he was jumping and screaming alongside them. Clary came onstage, blushing and looking dazzling in her dress. Jace pulled her in for a kiss and the crowd wolf whistled. That was approximately when Isabelle appeared next to Alec, looking frantic,

"Alec!" she breathed hard, "It's eleven forty five! You need to go!"

"Oh shit!" Alec's mouth ran dry, "oh shit, shit_, shit_!"

He ducked around Magnus, who looked confused,

"Alec?! Where are you going?!" he called,

"To the house!" Alec called back, sprinting outside. There were camera's rolling and crowds calling but Alec didn't hear any of that, instead leaping down the steps, taking two at a time. He had to get to the car and get home before the Morgensterns. They couldn't find out where he went! He nearly tripped on his laces, somehow managing to kick one converse off in the process, but he didn't really care at that point.

He spotted Jessamine's car and relief flooded him. The door opened for him and he hurled inside like a hurricane,

"Drive! Drive! Drive!" he yelled, and Jessamine didn't say anything, just pressed the gas pedal. They soared above Idris, the moon illuminating it and making it look more beautiful than ever and Alec's legs were shaking and he was fidgeting and his heart was beating too fast and _it was taking too damn long_.

"Can't you go any faster?!" Alec snapped, running a hand through his hair.

"Put your fucking attitude away, I'm trying, not my fault you were late," Jessamine gritted. Alec put his head in between his knees, feeling a panic attack coming on. If his step parents found out he was gone there would be no way they'd let him go away to college. No fucking way! He couldn't bear to spare any more time in that horrid house. He felt a sob rip through his chest,

"Alexander I'm trying, I'm really trying," Jessamine said desperately, taking a wild turn. That's when the engine began spluttering, "Oh no, oh hell no!"

"What? What is it?!" Alec asked, his heart threatening to burst out of his chest.

"I'm so sorry Alec!" Jessamine said as the car lurched and they started to lose altitude, "it's almost midnight, our magic stops then, and so does this car!" she swerved to avoid a lamp and Alec felt sick. The engine spluttered one last time and died, the car landing on some dark road, shuddering.

Then Alec was suddenly rolling, the world spinning around him. He closed his eyes as colour burst behind his eyelids. He finally came to a stop on the cold, hard pavement. He automatically turned to the side and threw up everything he ate at the party. Groaning he sat up, clutching his stomach and trying to figure out what happened.

Jessamine and the car were both gone. His suit somehow changed back into a hoodie and ripped jeans. Now Alec definitely knew he was crazy, or drunk. Yeah, he got drunk on Valentine's liquor and he stumbled out here and…

Where the hell was his other shoe?!

Alec shakily got to his feet, his stomach doing a flip. He felt the wet floor touch his foot, immediately cooling his body. Alec shivered and felt his heart drop to his stomach. He was lost and cold and most probably crazy, and there was no way he was getting home in time. The boy plopped down against the closest wall and buried his head in his hands, letting himself cry. The sobs wrecked his chest and hot tears streamed down his pale cheeks and his entire form shook because Jessamine had been wrong. He hadn't changed anything, he'd be stuck with the Morgenstern's for the next thousands of years and she'd be stuck in that car for the next thousands of years. The difference was that she was the one with the choice now. She could fix a life today or tomorrow or next year and she could move on. And Alec would never ever move on, he'd be stuck in that goddamned house with that goddamned family for the rest of his life, because they were the Morgenstern's and he was just Alec, just plain Alec, and one word from them and he could end up in prison or in a mental institution because they were the fucking Morgensterns.

"Come on, get up."

Alec blinked his tears away and looked up. Three figures stood over him, all blonde.

"You guys," Alec sobbed. Woolsey sighed and offered the boy a hand. Alec was quickly pulled to his feet and Jessamine wiped his tears,

"C'mon enough of that now," Camille snapped, but there was little bite in it.

"Why are you here?" Alec asked, tugging his hood up.

"We don't have any magic after midnight but we do have a conscience," Jessamine said with a soft smile. Alec realized that she was dressed in black trousers and a button up white shirt, complete with a top hat.

"Let's get you home shall we?" Woolsey asked, linking his arm through Alec's. Jessamine linked the other arm and Camille rolled her eyes,

"Right this way, let's do this quick, I can't stand anymore of this bff vibe coming off you three," she said, walking quickly in her killer heels. Alec let himself relax as he, Jessie and Woolsey followed.

* * *

><p>About an hour of arguing, laughing and joking later Alec found himself on a familiar street.<p>

"Time to go," Jessamine said softly, letting him go. Woolsey followed suit and the three stood in a line,

"Thanks guys," Alec said, though his chest tightened painfully, "for everything. Tonight might've not changed anything but I'm still glad it happened."

"Oh Alec," Jessie whispered,

"It did change something," Woolsey grinned,

"Actually it changed so much more than you could imagine," Camille finished. And just like that they were gone.

Alec stayed where he was, staring at where the trio just disappeared, before sighing softly to himself and trudging back home.

Nobody was waiting for him that night, so Alec crawled upstairs and slept like a dead man in his tiny room in the loft, letting go of all his hate and bitterness and concentrating on all the good feelings and moments of the night. Maybe the weird trio was right, maybe he did make a difference. Clary and Jace were together now, but it would've happened sooner or later. Still, he was happy he got to meet the ginger beforehand.

Alec fell asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

><p>He kind of assumed he was screwed anyway, so he let himself sleep in. He took a quick shower in the freezing water and pulled on his Pierce the Veil hoodie. When he eventually did go downstairs the whole family was present in the living room.<p>

Lilith was sitting on the sofa in her nightgown, with Sebastian sitting next to her, looking more grumpy and pissed off than usual. Valentine was standing behind them, looking emotionless.

Magnus?

Magnus was in a t-shirt and jeans and a coat and a scarf and there was a suitcase by his feet.

_He's leaving. _

Alec felt choked up all of a sudden, but he swallowed it down.

Finally Lilith opened her mouth,

"You are all over the news, apparently you made quite the exit from last night's ball," the woman bared her teeth, "Yes, you're all over the news and so is that stupid ginger girl…"

"Clary," Alec stated.

"What?" Lilith snapped, annoyed.

"Her name is Clary," Alec gritted through his teeth, "Now get this over with and just give me my punishment."

At least Jessamine might feel better knowing that even if he got home in time, he'd still be found out because of the news. Hell, he felt better knowing it wasn't all a dream or something he imagined. It had all been real, Camille and Ragnor and the suit, the weird car and Jessamine in her top hat, the ball and Clary, Jace and Magnus and the curfew, him losing his shoe and his new friends walking him home. It was all been real.

"You are free to go."

Alec's thought track was cut short.

"W-what?" he stuttered.

"You are free to go," Lilith snapped angrily, "don't make me repeat myself again."

Alec mind was reeling with completely unrelated things. Like what was with the floral pattern on the coach. Why does Sebastian's parting go to the left and not right? There's a stain on the carpet. Valentine has bags under his eyes. It's probably cold outside.

He thought of anything, _anything_ than what Lilith actually meant.

Because he had enough fucking disappointments in his life already.

Lilith sighed frustrated,

"You really are stupid aren't you," Sebastian hissed, "my brother dearest is leaving. The only reason he went to the ball yesterday was so he could move out and take you with him. So there you go, you two can go be happy together," he said bitterly, glaring at the two. Alec opened his mouth and tried to form words, looking from the Morgensterns to Magnus, and back again.

"Oh my fucking God," he said finally. Lilith's eye twitched,

"Get out."

So Alec did. He grabbed Magnus' hand and pulled him down the corridor and out of the door.

"Wait!" the taller boy called, "Don't you want to bring anything?!"

"Nope!" Alec said breathlessly, popping the p. When they were outside Alec realized he didn't have shoes on _but he really didn't bloody care_. He turned around facing Magnus, who looked as dumbstruck as he was.

"Why me?" Alec asked quietly, awaiting the answer like a death sentence. Magnus stared at him and Alec could swear his heart was gonna rip through his chest and run away.

"Because it's you," Magnus said softly, tracing the outline of Alec's face with his knuckles.

And suddenly they were kissing like they were meant to have been for ages, and Magnus' arms wound themselves around his waist and he tugged him closer, and Alec didn't care than anyone from his ex-family could walk out now and see them. He really didn't fucking care.

So they just kissed, softly and slowly, with Magnus' thumb stroking the small of Alec's back and Alec's hands woven themselves in Magnus' hair and it was absolutely, utterly perfect. Magnus pressed lingering kisses to the other boys jaw and neck, and Alec swore it was the best moment of his life. So far.

And then it started snowing.

And Alec was pretty sure it was his guardian's angel doing.

More like guardian angel_s_.

"C'mon let's get out of here, Alexander," Magnus said, leaning their foreheads together. Alec's heart gave a jolt but it wasn't unpleasant, "can I call you that?"

"You can call me anything," Alec sounded breathless. Magnus smiled and quickly pressed their lips together again,

"Okay, Biscuit." Alec blinked and burst out laughing, "what?"

"Nothing, just something Woolsey called me."

"Knew it had something to do with that lot," Magnus sighed, "Don't worry. Now come on, I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to. Oh yeah, I found your other shoe by the way."

And they got in the car and drove far, far away.

**6 months later**

Alec and Magnus have been living together for half a year now, and it was the best half a year of Alec's life.

They had a small apartment in a complex downtown. The Morgensterns completely cut Magnus off and so he began giving lectures at the local college and earned his own money. He changed his last name to Bane, and Alec began attending night classes at the local university and worked part time at a coffee shop. He was tired a lot but on bad nights Magnus would just make him tea and tuck him in and kiss him on the forehead and he'd feel better immediately.

They got two cats and named them Church and Chairman Meow. They got along with all of their neighbours. On the left lived a single eighteen year old guy called Simon, who was very close friends with Clary. Coincidence right? Simon was to be Jace's best man and Isabelle would be Clary's maid of honor, so the two met often, and along the way fell in love. It wasn't until Alec stumbled out at seven am to collect the milk from outside that he saw Izzy sneaking out of Simon's apartment that he put the pieces together.

On the other side lived a couple, Maia and Jordan. Jordan was a tattoo artist and Maia did something linked to celebration planing. Simon convinced her that she should help plan Clary and Jace's wedding, and she agreed.

And then, before anyone knew where the time went, the wedding was on them.

"What do you think?" Isabelle asked for the fourth time, patting down her short, purple dress,

"It looks great Iz, seriously," Alec rolled his eyes,

"Trust me, you look flawless," Magnus added. Isabelle's eyes twinkled with excitement.

"Thanks you two."

Jordan drove them to the ceremony in his tiny Lexus, with Magnus, Isabelle and Simon squeezed in the back, and Alec in Magnus' lap, while the driver and Maia took the comfortable front seats. There were a bunch of reporters outside of the Wayland manor and they tried to interview the group, but they blew them off.

The ceremony was simple, but beautiful. Clary looked stunning in her golden dress and Alec swore he saw Jace's eyes get all watery when they said their vows. He finally met Clary's parents, Jocelyn and Lucian. He danced with Magnus and with Izzy and Clary. He even had a quick dance with Simon and Maya. Catarina was there and she kissed him on the cheek when she saw him, congratulating him on getting together with Magnus.

The party ended late into the night, at which point Alec and Magnus were sitting outside on some grass, stargazing. It was a warm June evening, and Alec was...happy.

Magnus' hand found Alec's in the darkness,

"What are you think about?" Magnus asked him sleepily,

"About how I ate way too much," Alec muttered and his boyfriend snickered, pulling the younger boy closer and kissing him on the nose.

"I love you," he whispered against his temple,

"I love you too." Alec whispered contently, letting his eyes fall shut as Magnus played with his hair.

"Oi losers!" Ragnor called, "There's leftover cake, you guys want some?"

"YES!" Alec abruptly jumped up and sprinted back inside, with Magnus following him, smiling. Ragnor smirked at him,

"Someone's happy," the white haired boy stated.

"Yeah," Magnus' smile widened, "Gotta thank someone someday."

"Do you mean…" Ragnor trailed off, his eyebrow raised, "Actually don't tell me. I rather not know what happened in Peru. Just why did they help Alec that night?"

"They owed me one," Magnus said smirking, "and Jessamine's a sucker for love. Always been, always will be."

"You think she's still driving that car around?"

"I don't know, but she sure as hell made a difference."

Magnus leaned against the wall next to Ragnor and watched as Clary, Catarina and Alec chased each other round the ballroom, stuffing their faces with cake.

Alec never saw Camille or Jessamine or Woolsey after that day. But he knew they were watching over him and Magnus. Sometimes the door to his car would open without him touching it and the radio station would switch to Mozart. He got dreams in which he was flying over Idris, or see someone in the crowd wearing a top hat or three blonde friends drinking tea somewhere. His wrapping paper was mysteriously replaced with brown one, identical to the one his suit was wrapped up in. But most of all, one shoe from a pair would disappeared without a trace, only for Alec or Magnus to find it on the coffee table in Simon's apartment or on the stairs days later.

In the end Alexander had to give it to Jessamine, he really did make a difference after all.

_Alexander Gideon Lightwood could say that the first ten years of his life were a bliss, but he'd be lying. The last six years of his life were a mess, but the years that came after – they were the real bliss._

_Alexander Lightwood and Magnus Bane? Oh no, they're not part of the Morgenstern family. They couldn't possibly be. Live in a scruffy apartment, work part time jobs. No, surely it can't be. Nobody could control boys like that, even the Morgenstern. They're not the Morgensterns, no way. _

_Yeah that's right. _

_Happy._

**That was the longest fanfiction I have ever written, Jesus take the wheel. Thanks to my friend John (Sebastian) for helping me stay up at night and finish this. **

**Hope you guys like it. **

**Please review. **

**~Fly on **


	2. Chapter 2 - Beauty & the Shadowhunter

**Thanks to my one reviewer who took the time to…well, review. AvaeRae shoutout to you (: Here's the next story, enjoy!**

**Ps. Sorry that it's ooc. **

**Beauty & The Shadowhunter**

**Fandom: The Infernal Devices**

**Pairing: Wessa**

_April 1878_

_William Herondale was the most good looking Shadowhunter in Alicante, nobody could argue with that. But he was also the cruellest, rudest boy in Idris . Everyone remembered the one time he read Tatiana Blackthorn's embarrassing diary entry at her own party, ruining it for everyone. He was spoiled and cold, and loved to play pranks on people. He was a handful even for his own parents, but as soon as he turned eighteen he moved away from them to the Herondale Manor in the country side. Soon enough his parents passed away and his younger sister, Cecily, came to live with him, and everyone in Idris worried that she'd grow up like her brother, cold with a frozen heart. _

_It was Will's nineteenth birthday, and he decided to throw a party. And boy, was it a party, the most prestigious, beautiful and rich young adults from all over Idris came to attend, and the party lasted for a week. It was a blast, the people invited showed off their fancy invitations and watched others go green with jealousy. There was alcohol and little party sandwiches and fifteen different cakes. There was a Jazz band that came all the way from America and flame eaters and exotic dancers, and everyone felt swell. _

_Late at night on the seventh day it began to rain heavily, most of the guests decided to leave, so only a handful of Will's closest friends remained. They were resting in the living room, sipping champagne and nibbling on leftovers when there was a knock on the door. Will was slightly tipsy as he made his way towards the door and opened it. _

_Outside stood a cloaked figure, drenched from the rain. It was a girl, judging by her long brown hair. _

"_How may I help yoou, g'd lady," William slurred. The girl threw her hood back to reveal a beautiful face, and a jagged scar that ran down her left cheek like a battle wound. When Will saw this he stepped back and squinted, "You've got something 'ere," he said brushing his own cheek. _

"_It's a scar," the girl said simply, "My name is Sophia Collins. I heard there is a party going on inside. May I join?"_

_William blinked at her and burst out laughing, _

"_Sorry gal," he leaned against the door, "the party's over."_

"_But there are still guests present, are there not?" Sophie asked confidently. Will rolled his sparkling blue eyes, _

"_Sorry, but only beautiful people are allowed inside," he said simply. There was a beat of silence in which Will expected the girl to burst out crying or run away or both. However she just smiled, twisting the scar on her cheek, her eyes alight with a fire. _

"_And am I not beautiful enough for you?"_

_William snorted, _

"_Sorry to break it to you, but you are quite hideous. I mean, look at you, maybe you were beautiful once, before that…thing, happened to you face. But now? No chance, lady, get outta here," Will stated, rather rudely. The girls smile disappeared, replaced by a coldness that sent a shiver down the boy's body. _

"_You are a cruel man, William Herondale."_

"_So I've been told," Will tried to joke, even as the air grew thick. Thunder rumbled in the distance, _

"_You are a cruel, cruel man, William Herondale," Sophie repeated louder, her voice ringing through the open door. Will's friends appeared behind him, interested by the commotion, "and you shall be punished for your cruelty. I curse you, you and everyone who stands in this house. You shall suffer what you fear worst, for the next a thousand years. The curse will only be broken if a wanderer from afar comes to this house and falls in love with you and your twisted, frozen heart. If at the end of the a thousand years the curse isn't broken, you shall all perish in hell."_

_And as lightning struck in the distance, the girl disappeared. Will and his guests blinked, and then all of them burst out laughing at the same time, doubling over. _

"_Well wasn't that peculiar," Jessamine Lovelace fanned herself, sipping on her champagne elegantly, _

"_She was quite ugly, no doubt," Gabriel Lightwood wrinkled his nose in distaste. His older brother, Gideon, glared at him, _

"_I thought she was most pretty." _

_Everyone stared at him, before bursting into giggles again, patting him on the back, _

"_Oooh, Gid has a crussssh," Cecily sang as the oldest Lightwood smacked her on the shoulder. _

"_Don't hit her, she's a girl," James Carstairs rolled his dark eyes, sipping his tea, _

"_And my sister," Will added with a cheeky grin, "Jem is that tea laced with Opium?" the half Asian boy shrugged with a small smile, "You dirty little addict," Will said with a fond smile. _

"_I'm not addicted!" Jem protested, downing the rest of the liquid before Will could snatch it away._

_Charlotte Fairchild shrugged on her fur coat, and pushed past the group, _

"_Well me and Henry will be on our way now," she said, grabbing her ginger boyfriend's hand and lacing their fingers together, "It's quite late and we still need time to do…_things_," she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively as everyone present wolf whistled. _

_And then the weird thing happened, as the two tried to step out of the door they smacked right into…something. An invisible wall of sorts, _

"_What the…" Henry Branwell rubbed his freckled nose and tried to leave the house again, but the same thing happened. Both Will and Gabriel charged out of the door, and were thrown to the floor at the impact with the thing blocking the exit. Jessamine patted it gently, and Gideon pushed at it, but it wouldn't budge. _

"_It's probably that horrid girl's doing," Jessamine huffed, crossing her arms over her chest,_

"_It's a prank of sorts, I'm sure…" Charlotte sounded worried as she tried to side step the invisible barrier, "Try the backdoor!" she ordered, and everyone scuttled to the servant's exit. Cecily ran face first right into another wall,_

"_What the hell is this?!" she muttered outraged, as Gabriel checked her face for injuries. _

"_What…" Henry sounded terrified, "what if the curse was real. What if we're stuck here forever?!"_

"_Don't be ridiculous!" Charlotte snapped, "let's use common sense. We're Shadowhunters, are we not?" the group nodded, "well let's try a rune then!"_

_But no matter what they did, nothing seemed to budge the barriers. They even attempted to push Gabriel out of the window, only to find it blocked by the same invisible magic. Eventually the friends all plopped back down in the living room, exhausted. _

"_I'm sure someone will come get us eventually," Charlotte yawned. The others agreed, and let sleep catch up to them, each drifting off where they sat. _

_They were awoken hours later, when the sky changed from black to grey, and tried the doors again. The wall was still there. _

_Everyone glanced at each other and Jessamine got up with a frustrated sigh and paced around the room, eventually stopping by the mirror. She let out an unexpected shriek. Charlotte jumped up, her skirts flying, _

"_What on earth is wrong with you Jessie?!" She gasped, clutching her chest dramatically. _

"_My…M-my…" Jessamine opened and closed her mouth like a fish. She turned towards the group and everyone sucked in a breath. The blonde girls elegant dress has disappeared and was replaced by a shirt, a tie, trousers and a tux jacket, her long hair was unevenly cut short and peeked from under a top hat, her curves have disappeared. She ripped the hat off and desperately ran her hands through the ruined strands, "What is this!?" she yelled, cheeks red, "What happened?!"_

_By now everyone was up, running towards the mirror, shrieking and yelling over each other. Gabriel Lightwood unexpectedly shrunk, causing Will to scream at the top of his lungs, and became a black sparrow. _

_A loud cawing came from the bird, and he attempted to fly up and crashing into a wall. _

"_Gabe!" Cecily yelled, running up and picking the bird up, "Are you alright?!" _

"_HENRY! CHARLOTTE!" Jessamine screamed, clutching her hair. There was a blue cat and a clock with a human face lying on the floor where the couple stood moments earlier, _

"_My head's spinning," Henry's voice drifted from the clock, _

"_What am I?!" Charlotte asked terrified, "Jessie, what am I?!" _

"_You-…y-you're a cat!" the blonde whispered, and surveyed the room, "You!" she pointed at Will, Cecily and Gideon, "How come you are okay?!" Gideon glared at her, _

"_Cómo se supone que debo saber?!" he asked. Then froze, "¿Por qué estoy hablando en español ?!_

"_Oh by the Angel this is madness!" Will cried, grabbing his head, "He's speaking Spanish, Jessie's a man, Gabriel's a…a bird, Henry's a clock and Charlotte's a cat! The witch was serious, we really are cursed…Jem? Jem!" _

_The dark haired boy turned to search for his best friend, only to find him staring at himself in the mirror. His dark hair and eyes were now silvery white and his mouth was hanging open in shock,_

"_W-Will…" he whispered, turning to his friend for help, "there's a m-message…"he pointed at the mirror with a shaky finger. _

_Everyone gathered around it. There were four words written on the surface in red…something. _

He will die first.

_Something dark on Jem's skin caught Will's eye. Writing. _

"_Oh God, Jem," he whispered. In black ink, the words on the boys right wrist said, _

The drug that will kill you, will also keep you alive.

"_What the hell does that mean?" the now silver haired boy snapped. _

"_Opium. You need Opium or you'll die." Was all Will said as he plopped down onto an armchair, defeated, "what do we do now?" he asked quietly, looking desperately from one friend to the other. _

"_We wait until someone appears and falls in love with you," Jessamine snapped angrily like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and she…he pulled his top hat back on. Suddenly everyone froze when they heard a carriage pull up outside. Nobody even realised it was dawn. _

"_The servants!" Charlotte hissed from her cat form, "Quick everyone except Will and Cecy hide!" and she proceeded to grab Henry the clock with her mouth and jump under a sofa. Gabriel landed ungracefully on Jessamine's shoulder and the girl grabbed Gideon's arm and tugged him into the closest closet. _

"_Be quiet you two!" she muttered to the brothers, furiously. The reply came in angry Spanish. After a moment of panic Jem followed the three and squeezed into the closet. _

"_Jem!" Jessie shouted, but any other protests were cut off when the front door opened, _

"_Mr Herondale!" Bridgit, the cook, called in her thick Irish accent, "Mr Herondale, where are ya sir?!"_

"_I'm right here, stop screaming," Will muttered, rubbing a hand down his face. Bridgit looked quizzically at Cyril and Thomas who came in after her, _

"_Did you hear that?" Cyril asked, glancing around, _

"_Yeah that sounded like him," Thomas said, tucking in his shirt, "He's probably playing a prank on us."_

_Will made an outraged sound at the back of his throat, _

"_How dare you, you lowly peasants?!" he shrieked, running up to them. The three jumped and looked around, panicked, _

"_Who said that?" Bridgit asked loudly as Will jumped in front of her. _

"_They can't see you Will," Cecily whispered in horror. The boy continued to try and get his servants attention, "Will they can't see you!" his sister repeated angrily, "they can't see either of us!"_

_Will's arms flopped uselessly down to his sides and he gave his sister a panicked look, as the servants ran out of the house, screaming something about ghosts. _

_Since that day many tried to solve what came to be known as the Herondale Murder Mystery, but nobody came close to figuring out the truth. In the end William Herondale, Cecily Herondale, James Carstairs, Jessamine Lovelace, Gideon Lightwood, Gabriel Lightwood, Henry Branwell and Charlotte Fairchild were deemed dead. When the third cousins of the Herondale's came to live in the mansion, they left after a week, saying that it was haunted and that during the night they could hear whispers in the living room, there were teacups filled with weird substances left in the sink along with champagne glasses. They reported that they sometimes caught a glimpse of a tall, blonde man or a silvery boy in a mirror. There was a bird problem in the attic, especially with ravens, and the clocks changed times. And the constant whispers, sometimes in Spanish. The footsteps following them everywhere. _

_And so, nobody lived in the Herondale Manor, and it became haunted. _

11th Februrary 2014

Theresa Gray, commonly known as Tessa, hated the new town her family moved to. Well, she says 'family' but it's really just her and her older brother, Nathaniel. They used to live in London, the capital of England, filled with libraries and bookstores and coffee shops. Tessa had a close bunch of friends there and attended the local college. And then her brother got a job in Idris, Alicante, and the two had to move. Tessa didn't blame Nate, he was the one providing for them, Tessa's measly pay from where she worked in a café couldn't pay the bills. She loved her brother, a lot, and was willing to sacrifice the familiar for this little town. If only it wasn't so dreadfully _boring_.

Tessa sighed, pouring some milk into a coffee cup. She'd been offered a job at the local tea shop, and gladly accepted it. However where in London she could read a book when there were no customers, and her friends came to visit her, in Idris it seemed as there was always someone present. Figures, since it was the only tea shop in the town.

"Oi hurry up lassie!" the old man she was serving yelled. Tessa snapped out of her daydream and quickly placed the cup on a little plate that she put on the counter in front of the man,

"Sorry sir," she said, smiling cheerfully, "that will be £3," she added. The man grumbled and passed her the money in pennies. When he was done she wished him a good day. Then the door opened, "Oh no," Tessa whispered to herself.

The Mortmain's have just walked in. They were the most popular people in the town, they had perfect grades, went to church every Sunday, and did charity work. Dakota, also known as Dark was the head of the student committee, attended the debate club and worked for the local newspaper. She was a real social butterfly but Tessa found her immensely boring, and also quite creepy with her bright yellow eyes. Her older sister, Beatrice, or Black, was known for the amazing parties she threw and her amazing fashion sense. And her ridiculously long nails.

But Axel, their brother, was definitely the worst. He was a muscular, tall twenty year old, with a full beard and an expression that made him look permanently grumpy. He was known as a heart breaker in Idris, and girls swooned when they saw him. Tessa just didn't know why, he was obnoxious, loud, inconsiderate and a show off. And apparently absolutely smitten with her.

"Theresa!" he exclaimed in his deep, gruff voice, as all females present glared at the said girl. The man made his way over to the counter, "How are you today?"

Tessa smiled politely, wracking her brain for an excuse to get away from him,

"I'm great Axel, how are you?" She asked, leaning down and rummaging through cups under the counter.

"Better, now that you're here," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her and leaning forward. Tessa had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the not subtle flirting and grabbed a paper towel to wipe a spillage next to the coffee machine.

"Would you like to order anything?" She asked nonchalantly, trying to get Mortmain to understand that he was just a customer to her.

"Ah yes," Axel gave her a charming smile, "One Teresa Gray for takeaway."

This time Tessa did roll her eyes and watched as the Mortmain sisters spread to mingle with their friends at tables. Quite a few heads turned to look at the exchange between Tessa and Mortmain though,

"I'm flattered," Tessa said stiffly. The man didn't seem to take a hint though,

"So what do you say we go out after you finish work?" He asked persistently. Tessa sighed to herself, and proceeded to wipe some glasses and stack them neatly one next to the other.

"Sorry, can't," she said with a fake smile, "I have to return a book to the library."

This time it was Mortmain who rolled his eyes,

"Books are _such_ a bore," he stated, "I don't understand what you see in them."

"Of course you don't," Tessa huffed under her breath, but Axel either didn't hear it or ignored her. He was too busy checking out his reflection in a glass, the girl took a deep breath and straightened up, "Are you going to order or not?" she asked, smile still in place.

"Come on, Theresa, they're playing a fabulous movie down at the theatre during the weekend we should see it," Axel sent her a winning smile, ignoring the question.

"I won't go out with you," she deadpanned, tired of this man always pestering her everywhere she went. Mortmain's smile faltered,

"Well if you're busy on the weekend, we can do the next one," he said, not taking a hint, "Oh wait. I can't do that weekend, I have a modelling session for…"

"Listen Axel," Tessa ran a hand down her face, interrupting him, "I'm not going out with you. Ever. I'm not interested."

A silence fell over the café as all eyes swivelled to look at the pair. Mortmain looked startled for about a second, before quickly recovering. His lips fell back into an easy smile and he opened his mouth to say something,

"Are you going to order or not?!" Tessa snapped, glaring at him.

"I…n-no…"Axel trailed off.

"Then stop wasting my time!" the girl said with finality, turning her back onto the man and sorting through different flavours of coffee. She heard the door to the shop slam angrily and only then did she let herself sigh in relief.

Hours later, when her shift was finally over, Tessa exited the coffee shop, wishing she could somehow teleport herself back to London. It was already dark, but hopefully that would change soon since it was Februrary. She trudged home, her earphones blaring My Chemical Romance so loud you could hear it in the street, not that there was anyone to listen. Unlike her old city, in Alicante nobody left the house after dark, there were no concerts, no clubs. Tessa hated it, hated the lack of life, the lack of adventure. She just wanted to live a little before she had to settle down and have a boring job.

She reached her and Nate's apartment complex and walked up to the third floor since the lift was broken. With a sigh she pulled out her earphones, stopping in front of their door, and knocked. There was no answer even though Nate should've been home. Tessa thought he could be sleeping so she dug into her pocket and fished out her house keys. She stepped inside the apartment to find all the lights, and heating, off. There was no sign of her brother in any of the rooms. Tessa toed off her shoes and padded into the kitchen in her socks. There was a blue post – it note on the fridge. She ripped it off and her eyes scanned the messy handwriting,

_Dear Tess,_

_I'm so sorry, I just got an extra job out of town. It's just on the outside of Alicante, so not far, over that old hill you thought looked so beautiful. It's only for three days, and I'll be back by Saturday. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I just found out today and my phone died so I couldn't text you. _

_There's some pizza in the fridge, you can re heat it in the microwave. Sorry again, _

_Love, _

_Nate xx _

Tessa sighed and crumbled the note, tossing it into the bin. Typical of Nate to take the first chance and leave without any notice. He liked to do that.

Nathaniel Gray wasn't an evil man. Sure, he was selfish and self-centred, but not evil. To be honest he could've stayed and worked in Alicante, but he always grabbed an opportunity to get away from home. Tessa was…well she wasn't his real sister. She was his cousin really, and they both knew it, but they have been raised as siblings and when their mother passed away Nate had to take care of his 'little sister.' To be honest he only had to wait half a year, when Tessa turned eighteen she would be out of his house, and maybe out of his life as well. It's not that he wanted to get rid of her, or that he didn't love her, he just had enough of her. He had taken care of her for years, and he was so tired of it.

These thoughts circled in his head as he drove his old Lexus up a rocky path. His GPS said that this was a shortcut to the town close by that he had his job at. The headlights picked out bushes and shrubs and not much else, and his car wobbled on the uneven, rocky ground. He had been driving up for about twenty minutes, listening to the Rolling Stones when the car gave a particularly hard jolt and stopped.

"What the-" Nathaniel hit the steering wheel as if it was magically going to make the car start again. When nothing happened, the man cursed under his breath and tumbled out of the vehicle into the cold night. He checked the front of the Lexus like he saw in the movies, but in all honesty he had no idea what to do. For a few minutes he just circled the car, poked at it, tried tweaking it, turning it on. Nothing worked. Nathaniel let out a frustrated sigh and hugged himself, trying to preserve as much warmth as he could. He contemplated going downhill, back to Alicante, and it's low, glimmering lights, but he decided against it. Falling off a mountain in the middle of the night wasn't his idea of fun. He pulled out his phone, but obviously there was no signal. He trudged a bit more upwards, scanning the area, and saw a flickering light a bit more upwards. Relief flooded him as he figured it had to be an old gas station, or someone's house, maybe they had a phone he could use. Without a second thought he made his way towards it.

The lights turned out to, indeed, be a house. However it was a massive, very, very old house. The front gate was broken and shrubs grew everywhere, giving the place a messy look. What looked like a very rundown carriage stood in the driveway, and there were vines crawling up the walls of the manor. The windows were so dirty that he couldn't see anything inside, except the flickering glow from the bottom window. Feeling cautious, Nathaniel made his way towards the front door and knocked tentatively.

Nothing happened for a while, and Nate raised his hand to knock again, when the door creaked loudly and slowly swung open. Hesitantly the man stepped inside,

"Hello?" he called, and immediately choked on the ridiculous amount of dust in the air, "Anyone here?" he called, voice muffled by the hand he put over his face to protect him from the soot in the air. There was no reply, so Nate carefully picked his way through the dark corridor and into the room with the only light. It turned out to be a large living room, with old, floral sofa's and a long table. There were a couple of candles placed on various surfaces, and they gave off the light, but no heat. Nate shivered, and pulled his coat more tightly around himself. There was nobody in the room but the man had a weird feeling of being watched. He decided that he was just being paranoid and so he quickly plopped down on the closest sofa, "Heloooo?" he called again, not expecting a reply. Suddenly his eyes were drawn to what looked like a golden clock, standing on the table, ticking softly. Unlike everything else it was devoid of dust. All reason left him as he thought for how much he could sell that thing for. Without thinking he reached for it and hid it inside his coat pocket. He was on his feet in seconds, making his way back to the door.

"What the hell are you doing"? a voice snapped, right next to his ear, as the door slammed shut with a dull bang. Nate yelped and whirled around, scanning the room, only to find that there was nobody there,

"No need to be rude Will," a different voice, this time female, scolded half-heartedly. Nate's heart was threatening to jump out of his chest as he put the pieces together. He has heard of the 'haunted' Herondale mansion, but he never believed it. And this was clearly where he was, and it was clearly haunted.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, I-I didn't m-mean…" he didn't finish because that's precisely when he tripped over nothing, and ended up sprawled on the expensive carpet. He coughed on the dust that flew into the air,

"Well he's not very graceful, is he?" the male voice spoke, sounding amused,

"You stuck your leg out," the female sounded bored, "put Henry back, mundane."

"Don't tell me you're just gonna let him go," the man asked as Nate all but threw the clock, which he assumed was Henry, across the room. A blue cat slinked from the shadows and sent him a dirty look, tenderly picking the object up into its mouth.

"What else do you want to do with him?" the female asked, obviously annoyed, "We have to let him go."

"He tried to steal Henry," the cat hissed in a human voice, and Nathaniel jumped a foot in the air, "We are _not_ letting him go. He needs to be punished."

"W-what? N-no…" Nate tried to stand up, but he just ended up shuffling to the closest wall, looking petrified.

"Fine. Gideon!" the female voice called, resigned, "Jessie!"

There was the sound of heavy footsteps hitting the floor and one of the three doors was flung open, and two boys walked in. Nate had time to note that they were both blonde, except one looked very feminine.

"¿Quién demonios es esto?!" the taller blonde demanded. The slighter one rolled his eyes, fixing his top hat,

"It doesn't matter who this is," he said, and Nate realised he even sounded a bit like a girl, "but why is he here?" Nathaniel screamed again when he saw a black sparrow fly in through the window and land on the Spanish man's shoulder.

"That doesn't matter either," the female ghost spoke, suddenly close to Nate, "you better get rid of him." She told the newcomers.

"Us?!" The girly boy looked outraged, "I am a lady, I do not…"

"Oh cut it out Jessie," the male ghost interrupted, "You've been a man for centuries, you better get used to it."

Nate was too busy being terrified to try and understand what was going on.

"Whatever, Gideon just take him down to the dungeons, I don't have the energy to deal with this," the man in the top hat sighed, "and where on earth is Jem?"

That was precisely when Nathaniel blacked out.

To be honest it wasn't the first time Nate didn't make it home on time. But he always called, or texted his sister to let her know if he would be late. This was precisely why Tessa was currently at the police station,

"Listen lady," the bored officer behind the desk gave her a tired look, "Your brother is a grown up man that can take care of himself. Just because he's a day late doesn't mean that he's been kidnapped. Just give it time, okay?"

"But he's never done that before! And he didn't call…"

"Just give it time, okay?" the police officer repeated staring blankly at his computer. Tessa let out a frustrated sigh and left, making sure to slam the door shut behind her for good measure. It was late afternoon and she knew there was no way she'd sleep through the night, not with the worry gnawing at her insides, twisting them uncomfortably. She went back to her and Nate's apartment and tried to take her mind off things, she cleaned a bit, read a book, but she couldn't concentrate.

Just when it was getting dark she made her decision. She couldn't sit here, while her brother could be hurt somewhere. _Screw the police, _she thought angrily, pulling on her coat and grabbing a scarf.

She was out of her apartment, her phone already dialling the only person she knew she could trust to help her.

"Magnus Bane, high Warlock of London, on the phone," a cheerful, familiar voice welcomed Tessa from the other line.

"Magnus I need your help!"

"Biscuit?" Tessa could hear the worry in Magnus' voice as he called her by her nickname, "what's wrong?"

"Nate's gone," the girl said, running down a flight of stairs, slightly calmed now that she was talking to her friend, "and I need you to send me a car as soon as possible."

"On it," Magnus now sounded serious, "Want me to come over? I can cancel the party."

"No it's fine, I'm sure he just stayed longer than he should, but I would rather check, I can't sleep when I don't know where he is."

"You know you can come here," Magnus said warmly, "You're always welcome in London."

"I know, I know," Tessa ran a hand through her long brown hair, "I'm just worried, s'all."

There was a murmur of chanting in the background,

"Okay the car's waiting by the bridge," Magnus said, "You sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Tessa smiled as she rounded the corner and saw a slick black car with no markings waiting for her, "Thankyou Magnus, I owe you one."

"Glad to help. Call me when you find him." 

Tessa's been driving uphill for quite some time, sweating and trying to keep the car as much on the dirt road she she could. To say she wasn't the best driver out there would be an understatement. She was downright horrendous, and driving uphill in the dark made the cut as one of her worst experiences, alongside the one time she let Magnus style her hair. The glitter hadn't come out for months. Tessa was distracting herself with thoughts of pointless things when she saw something that caught her eye.

A bit off the road, in the dark, there was a looming shape. The shape of her brothers car. Tessa killed the engine and clambered out of her own vehicle, making her way towards the shape. The car's wheel was deflated and there was dust slowly gathering inside. It looked like nobody's been in it for a couple of days. Tessa circled the car, checking for any signs as to where her brother could've gone, but there were none. Frustrated she leaned against the mask and buried her face in her hands.

That's when it started raining.

Tessa learned that the rain in Alicante wasn't the half-hearted drizzle it was in London, but it came abruptly, in freezing sheets, often mixed with snow, and changed into a full blown storm pretty soon. If Tessa had any doubts about driving up a mountain, they were magnified now. No way was she going anywhere with water hitting down on her.

She lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the hail and looked for anything that could help her in this situation. She caught sight of a tiny, dim and flickering light close by. She was immediately filled with suspicion, in normal circumstances she would've never even thought about going towards it, but she didn't fancy spending the night in the cold, so she decided that she would rather face psycho killers or ghosts.

Just a few minutes later one soaking wet, freezing Tessa Gray appeared on the doorstep of an old, rundown mansion. The light was on in only one room, and that was enough for Tessa – she let herself hope that maybe it belonged to Nate. She walked through the creaking gate and up a path to the looming building, that was once probably beautiful. She knocked hurriedly, her teeth clattering. When nothing happened, she knocked again, this time more forcefully. In the end nobody opened the door so she invited herself in. The hallway was very dark, but slightly warmer than the outside. And dry. She took off her soaking shoes and socks and placed them in the corner with her coat and scarf. She then proceeded to walk to the only light source. As she got closer she heard urgent whispers, which scared and intrigued her at the same time. There was more than one person in the house, but maybe Nate was amongst them.

When she walked into the lit room, Tessa was met with a sight she would remember for the rest of her life. There were three floral couches placed in a dodgy circle in the middle of the room, and that wasn't the weird thing. The weird thing was that the whole thing seemed occupied by people, even though there were only two humans sitting down. One was a boy with short, light blonde hair, a top hat and feminine features. The other man was also blonde, but much more muscular, and he looked quite unhappy. There was a midnight black sparrow perched on his shoulder, looking around the room with intelligent eyes. There was a golden clock lying back on the dusty cushions with a blue cat curled around it. Two places looked occupied, even though there was nobody there.

All conversations died when Tessa walked in. She blinked at the two men and then smiled,

"Sorry for barging in. There was a terrible storm outside and nobody was opening the door."

"muy bien, ¿quién es éste?" the manlier blonde huffed. The other one in the top hat sighed and Tessa looked at them quizzically,

"How are we meant to know?" he eyed Tessa up, "Who are you?"

"Um, Teresa. Teresa Gray," she said. Nobody replied, "Or just Tessa."

"What do you want?" the boy cut in again. The sparrow flew up from the Spanish boy's shoulder and landed on Tessa's, digging his claws into her shoulder,

"Ouch careful there little one," Tessa winced as its tiny claws sliced through her shirt, in reply the sparrow cawed, outraged and perched himself on a window sill. Tessa turned back to the men, "I was looking for my brother. Nathaniel Gray? Have you seen him?"

"Oh bloody hell," a hiss sounded from an empty space on the couch.

"Shut up Will," another hiss, this time female. Tessa raised an eyebrow,

"Ghosts?" she asked. The boy with the top hat blinked at her, and then proceeded to look angry,

"None of your business," he snapped, "and on the contrary your brother is here."

"Oh thank God," Tessa sagged with relief, "Where?"

"In the dungeons," the male voice of the invisible person spoke, sounding smug. Tessa looked at him, or at least where she assumed he was, quizzically,

"Why is he in the dungeons?" she asked.

"Because he tried to steal Henry," the blue cat huffed angrily, nuzzling its face into the clock, who sighed contently. Tessa gasped,

"He tried to steal him?!" she yelled, outraged. The boy in the top hat winced, "no wonder you put him in the dungeons."

"Wait," the female ghost spoke, "You're not scared by us?"

Tessa blinked at them,

"Well you didn't hurt me…yet," she narrowed her eyes at them, "are you going to hurt me? Because if you are then I'm going to excuse myself."

"Bien esto es interesante…" the bigger blonde boy said with a genuine smile.

"Shut up Gideon," the other one snapped, "We're not going to hurt you if you leave now. But your brother stays, he violated the rules of this house."

"Oh come on, I can pay you guys…"

"WE DON'T WANT YOUR MONEY!" the boy in the top hat yelled, "LEAVE!"

"Jessie calm down," the female ghost spoke, "we can't keep him here forever."

"Yes we can," the cat butted in, "I'm with Jessie on this one, the man was downright disrespectful and rude."

"Oh come on, we let him in!" the female argued.

"And look where that got us," the boy, Jessie, huffed. The room burst into argument, everyone shouting over each other. The sparrow swooped down from the windowsill and circled over their heads.

"Shut up!" the clock eventually yelled, causing everyone to quiet down and Tessa to jump slightly, "just give the boy back to her…"

"Thankyou!" the female ghost exclaimed.

"Let's compromise," the cat said with authority, eyeing Tessa up, "we will release the boy, but the girl has to stay here for…let's say two months, in return, and help restore the mansion."

The room exploded into arguments again, which looked peculiar as Jessie screamed at thin air and the other blonde man argued in Spanish. Then someone stepped into the room and everyone fell eerily silent. The boy was tall and freakishly thin, he looked incredibly frail and his eyes and hair were the most peculiar shade of silver. He was rubbing his eyes as if he just woke up,

"What's going on?" he asked softly.

"Jem why are you out of bed?!" the male ghost asked, his voice thick with worry and care. The cat jumped off the sofa and padded over to the boy, curling around his bare feet until he picked her up with delicate hands,

"Hey Lottie," he murmured pressing a kiss to the cats head, "I heard an argument so I came down to see what was happening," he seemed to just now see Tessa, and he smiled radiantly at her, "Hello there. I'm Jem and who might you be?" he asked.

"Tessa," Tessa replied, deciding she liked this boy the most. He smiled at her again before turning to where she assumed the male ghost stood,

"What are you arguing about, Will?" he asked softly. The atmosphere shifted in the room, it became calm, laced with worry. A sigh came from nowhere,

"This girl is the mundane's downstairs sister, and she wants him back. Me and Jessie want to send her off, but Henry and Cecily want to give him back to her."

"What about Gid and Gabriel?" Jem asked, hand stroking down the cat's back.

"Mantenerme fuera de este!" Gideon snorted, crossing his muscular arms over his chest.

"Gideon's neutral," Jessie glared at the other blonde, "but Charlotte wants to send the boy off and keep the girl…"

"Only for two months!" the cat butted in, "and she can help restore the mansion. All that dust is not helping your health!"

An uneasy silence fell over the room as Jem's hand stilled in the cats blue fur.

"I think Lottie's idea is the best," the female ghost said quietly, breaking the silence. The others agreed, though some more reluctantly than others. The sparrow landed next to the cat in confirmation.

"Would you be willing to trade places with your brother?" Jem asked, looking at Tessa, his silver eyes startling her. Only now it hit her that these weird people were talking about keeping her in this…haunted place, and make her do…what? She would never agree to that…but she couldn't leave her brother here. They seemed to want to harm him. Tessa took a deep breath,

"Y-Yes," she said shakily, but without hesitation.

"Bring him in," the male ghost muttered darkly, but Gideon and Jessie were already on their way.

"God Tessa this is madness!" Nathaniel gushed. He didn't look much different from the last time the girl saw him, except his clothes were rumpled and his hair was a mess, "I will call someone!"

"It's okay Nate," Tessa squeezed his brothers hands, "it's only for two months, just let Magnus know, will you?"

"Tessa I'm not leaving you here!" Nate exclaimed, although it sounded half hearted.

"It's fine Nate, you have work. I'll handle this…" she trailed off looking at all the occupants of the house, lining the wall.

"Are you sure?" her brother asked one last time. Tessa nodded, surprised that she didn't feel heartbroken. Actually, she felt fine, and a little bit excited. Nate nodded and kissed her on the forehead before hurrying out. Tessa missed the way his face relaxed into a relived smile.

She slowly turned towards everyone else present,

"So wanna explain what exactly happened to you guys?" she asked. Jessie rolled his eyes.

"You might like to sit down," Jem plopped down into a sofa, slumping as if he didn't have the energy for anything, "excuse the mess." He added, gesturing at the dusty living room.

Tessa said nothing as she eased herself down into one of the sofa's and watched as everyone took their places. She squeaked when she felt a presence sit itself next to her, a body radiating warmth, even when she couldn't see it. Jessie sat opposite her and laced his fingers together, however it was the cat who spoke.

"I know this may be hard to believe but in 1878 a grand party took place right here, in the Herondale manor," her brown eyes swiped the living room and settled back on Tessa, "after almost a week of dancing and partying most guests left, leaving only a handful to their own devices. A hint, that was us. Late at night a knock came on the door and a girl asked if she could join us…"

"She had this horrendous scar on her cheek!" Jessie interrupted, face twisting in disgust, "and of course our dear Will had to bring it up and use it to insult her!"

"Hey!" the ghost next to Tessa yelled, his body tensing against Tessa's side, "in my defence I didn't know she was a warlock!"

"Whatever Will," Jessie rolled his eyes, "anyway because of that blubbering idiot everyone in the house got cursed. Believe it or not my actual name is Jessamine Lovelace and for the first seventeen years of my life I was a _girl_!" Jessie said outraged, "and then this happened!" he gestured wildly at himself, "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

"Calm down, Jessie," the cat huffed, "you didn't get the worst one. I'm Charlotte Branwell, and as you can see I'm a cat. My fiancée, Henry, is the clock," she jumped off Jem's lap and curled protectively around the golden clock which blinked its large, green eyes open.

"Yeah well I'm William Herondale, also known as the host," the ghost next to Tessa shuffled, "and me and my sister Cecily, have both turned invisible."

"Oh thank God, I thought you guys were dead," Tessa sighed in relief.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THANK GOD?! WE ARE INVISIBLE NOBODY CAN BLOODY SEE US! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU MEAN THANK GOD?! I WILL RUIN YOU!" the ghost screeched as Tessa winced.

"William," the silver haired boy muttered, eyes flashing. The ghost immediately settled, "Don't shout at our guest. She's right, at least you're not dead."

Another silence settled over the room and Tessa fidgeted uncomfortably, feeling as if they reached a sensitive topic. Everyone seemed to walk on eggshells around the silver boy, and sure enough he looked like he could drop dead any second.

"Sorry, Jem," Will whispered eventually, sounding absolutely heartbroken. He cleared his throat and continued in his normal, mocking voice, "Yeah anyway, that bird over there," he pointed at the sparrow, "that's Gabriel Lightwood. He's been a bird for centuries, so don't bother speaking to him. The one speaking Spanish is Gideon, don't bother speaking to him either, unless you're fluent."

"And what about him?" Tessa asked after a moment, nodding at Jem. Nobody replied.

"I'll show you to your room," Charlotte jumped off the sofa, her voice not betraying any emotion, "follow me."

Later on that night Tessa laid on a bed, staring intently at the ceiling. She couldn't fall asleep, the short candle Jessie brought her has long ago burned out, and the musty room was dark, the dirty windows not letting in any light. The girl sighed and shifted onto her side, eyeing a stain on the wall with a disconnected interest. She just couldn't bloody sleep. She couldn't sleep at home either, so it didn't make much of a difference. But at home she could listen to music, make hot chocolate or watch movies until her body forced her to rest. But here? She was scared that if she left the room she'd stumble into some satanic ritual that was taking place outside her door.

Eventually she felt too itchy and excited to sleep, so despite her doubts, she got up and felt her way to the door. The corridor was just as dark and satanic ritual free, so she fumbled her way along, which was probably a bad idea. Nearly all the rooms she tried were locked, and the ones that weren't looked similar to hers. She spied a piano in one but that was about it. Mostly everything else was covered in white sheets.

In no time at all she was lost, having ventured into the more abandoned part of the mansion. Cobwebs hanged from corners of the ceiling but Tessa was never fazed by spiders, so she didn't care. She was worried about not being able to find her way back to her room, though. She turned back the way she came, but accidently turned into the wrong corridor. When she came to an end that finished with a pair of creaky stairs, she had to choice but to climb them. Which meant that she was now on a completely different floor. She searched for a staircase that could lead back down to her level, but couldn't find one.

She did find a room with a gap of light underneath it instead.

And of course she just _had_ to go inside.

What she saw was Jem holding an old, ornamented box filled with a silver powder that matched his eyes and hair, and he was obviously in a conversation with either Will or Cecily, unless he was batshit crazy and was talking himself, which wouldn't surprise Tessa. However her mind filled in the blanks for her.

"You take opium," she blurted, identifying the powder. Jem's head snapped up and his eyes widened and filled with shame. He quickly closed the box and pushed it under his bed.

"You!" suddenly there was a hand gripping her arm in a tight grip, but there was no one there. Definitely Will then, "how dare you barge in here?!" but he didn't give her a chance to answer as he dragged her out of the room. Tessa caught Jem's worried look but the sickly boy didn't make a move to stop Will, he just looked down at his feet like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.

But Tessa had other things to worry about as the invisible boy dragged her down a dark, cold corridor. A chill went through Tessa as Will's grip tightened on her arm, sure to leave bruises. As soon as they made it around the corner Tessa felt herself get slammed into the closest wall.

"You…"Will hissed, his breath hitting her face, which wasn't entirely unpleasant. Tessa had no idea where to look so she stared at where she assumed the boy's face was.

"Will you let go?" she asked through gritted teeth. The pressure on her arm lightened but Will didn't remove his hand, "I didn't mean to walk in. I got lost."

"Why the hell were you up anyway?" Will snapped. Tessa sighed,

"I couldn't sleep. Now please let me go, it's not like I'm going to judge Jem for what I saw. Frankly, I think he's sweet unlike _some_ people in this house," she gave Will, or at least what she thought was Will, a pointed glare. There was an audible sigh and the hand left Tessa.

"Go back to bed, you're gonna be needed tomorrow," Will said, "Down that corridor is a staircase, it comes out near your room. Just go there." And before Tessa could say another word she heard Will's footsteps walking away.

Will let our another frustrated sigh, running a hand through his slightly curling hair. Taking care of Jem always left him like this, and every time his best friend had an attack something in him broke. And the whole ordeal with Tessa just made him so much more exhausted.

He hated this. He hated this horrible, disgusting, rundown house. He hated how full of hatred everyone living here was, how much they regretted everything. He hated the curse, for letting the house and the souls of the occupants fall into ruin. But deep down he just hated himself, for making all of this happen.

If it wasn't for him Jessamine wouldn't be stuck as a man, and it made her sweet heart bitter with hate. She hated who she was, and couldn't accept it even after centuries. If it wasn't for him Gabriel wouldn't be a bird, a fucking bird. The boy only turned human every full moon like a werewolf, but he wasn't – he was a bloody bird. He was slowly losing all that was human and it was breaking Cecily apart. His own sister, he couldn't protect her. She had to pay for his stupidity, forever stuck in a house with the person she loved nothing more than an animal. He couldn't talk to Gideon – unlike them, he didn't have time to learn Spanish, so even on that one night in the month, he couldn't speak with Gideon, his brother. Charlotte and Henry hadn't gotten married, and they probably never would, they would never have a child. They were stuck as a clock and a cat, and Henry became slowly detached, throwing himself into designing little trinkets.

And then there was Jem. His best friend, the person who was always by his side, who was the one that never had any flaws to begin with. And here he was – dying. All of them would die, but they had a few more centuries to try and find someone who could love Will. Who knew how much time Jem had. Hours? Days? Months? Years? Every single day was a blessing and a curse, Jem lived another day, worthless and brutal, but another day nonetheless. But tomorrow everyone would be plagued with the thought that what if he just…dies? The message on the window burned bright in Will's mind despite the years that have passed.

_He will die first. _

But they all will. Eventually, haunted by fear and regret, with the body of their friend rotting in one of the rooms because they _wouldn't even be able to bury him_.

His friends.

His family.

All dead because of him.

Will stumbled blindly down the corridors, feeling tears prick the corners of his eyes, glad that nobody could see him. He blindly found his room and threw himself on his bed. He wanted nothing more than to run back all the way to Jem's room and hold his hand, make sure his friend was safe. But he didn't have the strength. He just wanted all of it to end, and if he wasn't such a coward he would've finished it himself.

Then there was hope. Just a sliver of it, but he saw it today.

The way Charlotte's eyes sparkled when she saw Tessa, the way Jessamine seemed to burn with a fire, the way Gabriel landed so determinedly on her shoulder. She could be the one.

The only thing worse than death was false hope.

But Will didn't let himself hope.

Tessa shivered, tugging the oversized, old fashioned sweater around herself. Her clothes were still drying from yesterday's downpour so she got stuck with a couple of male, button up shirts and weird trousers. It was better than the puffy dresses she was offered. Someone left breakfast at her bedside table and she was glad she could avoid eating with the weird occupants of the mansion. However Jessie burst into her room in the morning and threw the sweater at her, telling her it was Will's and that she better hurry up because she was going to help clean the gardens. He seemed totally unfazed by the fact that Tessa was in her underwear.

So here she was, bright and early in the morning, freezing her nose off as Gideon and Charlotte lounged on the floor just inside the door of the manor. Tessa eyed the massive shovel she was handed, suspiciously, and tugged on the edge of the frayed sweater. It was surprisingly comfortable and warm, like wore it minutes before Tessa put it on. Which was stupid because Will's clothes were invisible or he was walking around naked. Nope, not a good mental image.

"So you guys are not going to help?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Lo haría si pudiera salir de esta puta casa!" Gideon stated. Charlotte licked her paw,

"We can't. Part of the curse keeps us holed up in this house. We hadn't been able to step a foot outside since 1878," the blue cat said smartly.

"Great," Tessa muttered under her breath as she began to try and dig a hole in the cold, frozen ground.

"Start with the weeds," Charlotte pointed out, looking at the dead weeds, "There's sheers in that little shed."

Tessa followed the cat's instructions and pulled out a pair of heavy sheers from a bunch of bundled up, rusty metal…things. She started to cut at the dead thorns and bushes, letting them fall to the ground.

"Cut near the root!" Charlotte cried in horror. Tessa sighed but listened to her,

"Voy a buscar un bolsa de basura," Gideon sighed and got up, disappearing in the darkness of the parlour.

"What did he say?" Tessa asked, half interested, as she continued to snip at the shrubs,

"He's getting a bin bag," Charlotte said simply. For a few minutes the two settled into a comfortable silence, Tessa snipping and the blue cat watching her with interest. Eventually Gideon reappeared with a handful of black bags,

"Aquí tienes…" the blonde man started to say, but he tripped over a part of the bunched up carpet, and went flying. Right out of the front door and onto the hard ground of the garden. "Mierda que duele…" he groaned. A stunned silence settled over the three and Gideon's eyes widened, "Charlotte qué demonios-"

The cat didn't let him finish as she jumped outside, past the doorwat. There was no invisible wall blocking her path. A high pitched laugh escaped her mouth,

"By the Angel! We can go outside!" she exclaimed, "Gid quickly call the rest!" she added, as she proceeded to roll around on the frozen ground like it was the best thing she's ever done. Gideon's face was bright with a smile as he charged back into the house. Seconds later the rest of the occupants were outside, screaming and laughing out loud. Jessie twirled with his arms outstretched and Gabriel the sparrow soared above their heads. Gideon had Henry the clock in his arms, and even Jem peeked outside, a ratty, old blanket around his thin shoulders and a tiny smile on his pale face.

Jessie raced towards the gates, and was thrown backwards before she could set foot outside them. The smiles disappeared off everyone's faces as they ran towards him, Cecily or Will picked him up, and he dusted himself off,

"I knew it was too good to be true," he huffed.

"At least we can go outside!" Tessa heard Cecily's voice float somewhere from her left.

In the end Tessa didn't clean the garden by herself because everyone refused to go back inside after years of being there. It took until sundown but the group got most of the shrubs and weeds in the bin bags. They had to be very careful to not bump into Cecily and Will, and Tessa felt at ease when she saw the looks on everyone's faces. Hope.

That evening they all lounged around the living room, and chattered away. They have called a pizza takeaway place and Tessa had to go down to one of the back roads to collect it. Henry, Gabriel and Charlotte weren't eating and it was slightly unnerving to see pizza slices levitate into the air and disappear in chunks where Will and Cecily sat.

"So how come the house is such a mess?" Tessa asked when she was on her third slice.

"Obviously because there are no servants," Jessie said, nibbling on the crust of his first slice,

"Why didn't you guys just clean yourself?" the brown haired girl continued.

"We tried at the beginning but it's hard to maintain a house when there's only five humans, two of which kept avoiding their chores because we couldn't find them," Charlotte gave the spaces where Will and Cecily were sitting glares, "so now we only look after our own rooms and eat the food that magically appears downstairs."

"So how is the curse broken?" Tessa asked, curling her legs underneath her. Everyone fidgeted uncomfortably but eventually it was Cecily who replied,

"Someone has to fall in love with Will."

There was a silence in which everyone looked even more uncomfortable then before.

"I…um-" Tessa cleared her throat, "how about we, uh, play a game?"

"What game?" Jessie laid back on the sofa, his head in Gideon's lap, and Gabriel the sparrow swooped from the ceiling and landed on his bent knee,

"It's called truth or dare," Tessa explained, "and basically someone in the circle picks either truth or dare, which is quite obvious. If you pick truth someone asks you a question and you have to answer truthfully, and if you choose dare then you have to do something that someone tells you to do…"

"We might as well play," Jem said enthusiastically from the doorway, entering the room and curling up on the couch in between where Cecily and Will were, it looked like his head was awkwardly bent but he was probably just resting it on one of the sibling's shoulders, "can I start?" Tessa nodded and Jem scanned the crowd, "Lottie, truth or…um-"

"Dare," Tessa prompted. Jem repeated after her with a soft smile, Charlotte narrowed her brown eyes and thought for a second,

"Truth," she decided eventually. Jem hummed to himself as he thought of a question,

"What do you like most about being a cat?" he asked finally. Will snorted next to him and Charlotte rolled her eyes,

"I have an excuse to cuddle people," she said emotionlessly. Gideon and Jessamine burst out laughing,

"Who knew your were a cuddler?" Cecily teased, and Tessa could hear the smirk in her voice even though she couldn't see her. Charlotte recalled the invisible girl with a calm, calculating look,

"Cecy, truth or dare?"

"Truth," came the easy reply.

"What do you do when Gabriel turns human every month?" the cat asked mischievously.

"I-um, I…" Cecily spluttered, obviously flustered, "I-um, we, erm…kiss, and- I um…"

"That's enough information Thankyou very much!" Will cried at the same time as Gideon made a disgusted noise, "I believe it's Jem's turn."

"Okay fine," Cecily huffed, "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," Jem said softly, smiling, his eyes lighting a bit. Cecily was silent for a while, thinking of a dare but Jessamine interrupted her,

"Kiss Will," the blonde boy said with a grin. Will spluttered and began to protest, however he grew silent as Jem gracefully got up,

"Where are you, Will?" he asked with a small smirk. There was an audible, pained sigh and then some shuffling.

"Here," Will grumbled, taking Jem's hands and guiding them to his face. Jem's hands skittered over what seemed air and without a warning he leaned forward and placed an exaggerated kiss on…

"Hey that was his cheek!" Cecily protested, "That doesn't count!"

"You never said where to specifically kiss him," Jem said as he plopped back down on the couch, "It's not my fault you and Jessie wanna see us kiss."

"I'd only see half anyway," Jessie grumbled, "Gid, truth or dare?"

"Verdad," the blonde replied. Nobody bothered to translate,

"How far have you ever gone with a girl?"

Gideon lurched into a long paragraph in Spanish, and his lips spread into a smile as he saw the others become more and more scandalised.

"Gideon!" Charlotte gasped when he was finally done, "that is_ not_ appropriate!"

Gideon shrugged,

"Will, verdad o se atreve?" he asked, without as much as a blush.

"Hmmm…since you're all wimps, except you Jem, I will chose dare." Will said confidently.

"Te reto a besar a la persona a encontrar los más atractivos de esta sala," The tall boy said with a wicked grin. There were muffled giggles and Tessa's grey eyes swept the room, trying to figure out what Gideon has said. There was a moment of rustling and she was about to ask what Will's dare was, when she felt soft but firm lips against her own.

She was frozen in shock for a few seconds as a tingle ran down her body, and too soon the lips were gone and the room was filled with laughter and wolf whistles,

"Well who would've though, ey?" Jessie giggled behind his hand.

"I'm going to bed." Will said stiffly, and seconds later the door on the other side of the living room opened and closed.

"I'm gonna go too," Cecily said and Tessa could hear the smile in her voice, "Today's full moon. Gab's gonna be changing soon." Gideon cringed.

Eventually everyone got up and left, until only Tessa and Henry the clock remained in the room.

"What was the dare?" Tessa muttered to herself, frustrated that nobody bothered to tell her.

"Gideon dared Will to kiss the person in the room who he thought was the most attractive." Came the dreamy, unexpected reply for Henry.

Tessa ignored the way her heart skipped a beat.

The next morning the girl was awoken by the excited yells and feet running up and down the stairs. She grumbled to herself as she rolled out of bed. Just then the door flew open to reveal Jem, his cheeks were flushed and there was a delighted smile on his face,

"Tessa come quick! You won't believe it!" she said, grabbing her hand in his warm, delicate one. The girl let herself be pulled out of the door and down the cold marble stairs by the silver haired boy. She couldn't help but let the excitement, so obvious in the air, seep into her, and a grin appeared on her face. There was a joy in the atmosphere that made the cold, ancient house seem a bit more bright.

Tessa and Jem sped down the hallway as fast as they could and entered into the living room through the open doors. For a second everything seemed normal, the duvets bunched up on the floral sofa's, the soda cans and leftover pizza slices left on the dusty table…and there was an unknown someone standing in the middle of the room. Gideon had one strong arm around his shoulders and everyone was crowded around him laughing. The boy had a strong resemblance to the blonde boy, although he was taller, and his hair was brown compared to Gideon's blonde. Their eyes were the same blue – green, but what Gideon lacked were the other boys huge, midnight black wings that spurted from his back like ink stains. They were mesmerizing.

"Gabriel," Tessa guessed. The voices calmed and everyone's eyes focused on her,

"You must be Tessa," the boy spoke, his voice clear, and then he bowed. Tessa felt uncomfortable.

"How come you're not a sparrow?" she asked to break the tension. She still had tiny claw marks on her shoulder from where Gabriel landed on it.

"I rather hoped you would be able to answer that question," Gabriel said solemnly, staring at Tessa intently, "For hundreds of years I was a bird, and only returned to my human body once a month. But on the crack of dawn today, I remained in my own body, with these wings the only thing left of my bird self."

Tessa didn't know what to say to this, but Cecily's excited voice broke the silence,

"He can also fly outside the gates."

"But he's the only one," Charlotte said with a sigh,

"And he changes back into a bird if he does, but that's not important," Will added cheekily.

"I-um," Tessa's mouth was wide open, "How does this have anything to do with me?"

"Everything started changing when you got here," Jessie exclaimed, taking Tessa's hands in his, "you are the one that's meant to save us."

Tessa really didn't know what to say to this. She only came here to save her brother from these…people? But now everything was different, and she felt like everyone in the room saw her as someone who could help them. But she didn't know how she could to that, according to the curse she was meant to fall in love with Will. But how do you fall for someone you can't even see. The girl smiled weakly,

"Well since you're a human now, you can help me and Jessie tidy up the second floor," she told Gabriel.

"Ugh I _can't_ do this anymore," Jessie whined, sliding down the wall. Tessa was up on an unsteady ladder, scrubbing at the windows. Every now and again she caught sight of Gabriel, who was flying outside, cleaning the other side of the glass. The brown haired boy popped up in front of her and waved, and Tessa couldn't help but grin,

"Come on Jess, we're nearly done," she said in a voice that she hoped sounded motivating. Jessamine groaned but picked himself up off the floor and grabbed a broomstick. He proceeded to sweep the floor in overdramatic movement. Tessa was sure that any second now he would start dancing with the inanimate object.

And so the month passed, and Tessa grew closer and closer with the occupants of the manor. No more magical reversals have happened since Gabriel and everyone was becoming slightly dishearted, but they weren't giving up hope. Not yet. Tessa didn't know if she would be able to make herself leave at the end of next month. She had had no messages from Nate and he hadn't come to visit. She hated herself for thinking this, but the manor felt more like a home than any of hers and Nate's apartments.

The house became a happy and bright place over the time that Tessa has been there, thanks to her and the rest of the occupants help. Everyone was eager to help and clean and in no time mostly everything was restored to its former glory. Magnus might've helped a bit when he visited one time to make sure Tessa was okay. Throughout most of the time he just spoke to Henry the clock about his inventions. They even fixed the gate.

It happened on a Wednesday. Charlotte appeared during lunchtime, her usually blue fur coated with thick dust. She sneezed as her tiny paws left marks on the polished floors, and she had a grumpy expression on,

"What on earth happened to you?" Cecily snorted. Charlotte glared,

"I was looking for some wine and accidently wandered into cellar. That was a bad idea as nobody bothered to clean down there. It is a right mess, someone go down there and fix it at once!" she demanded.

"I'll go," Will shrugged, putting down his Shepard's pie.

"I'll help," Tessa agreed. She hadn't had a chance to work with Will alone yet. She did get to know everyone else though. Gabriel got her a phone charger from a shop in town and in the evenings he, Cecily and Tessa would listen to music on Tessa's IPhone and argue about which ones they liked best. When it rained outside Tessa would curl up on the floral sofa with a book and Charlotte in her lap, and she'd have long conversations with Henry the clock, explaining to him how modern technology worked. Jem tried to teach her how to play the violin, but it ended up with Tessa just listening to the boy play. Gideon attempted to teach her Spanish with Gabriel's help, but not much came from it. Jessie dug out some of her old dresses and together they remade them to look more up to date. The two of them, and sometimes Cecily would try them on, with Charlotte watching. They looked ridiculous on Tessa, and funny on Jessie's boy's body and…well on Cecily you couldn't really see it, but it was still a form of entertainment.

Everyone warmed to Tessa, except Will who seemed to almost avoid her.

Sometimes he'd recommend or comment on a book Tessa was reading, or listen to Jem play with her, and laugh at the Lightwoods trying to teach her Spanish. But he rarely spend time with her alone.

Except in her dreams.

But let's not get into that.

So the brown haired girl had no idea what to expect when after lunch her and the invisible shadowhunter made their way down to the basement. It was dark and dusty, and they had to bring candles down with them. Tessa sneezed and then coughed, but Will didn't react to the dirt. He seemed used to it.

"So," Will's voice startled Tessa in the darkness. A cloud of dust rose from an old table as the boy moved old boxes, "You caused quite the uprising with everyone upstairs."

"I-um, yeah." Tessa collected her hair and put it up into a ponytail so it wouldn't get in her face, as she began to sweep the floor, "They seem to think that I can lift the curse…"

"And can you?" Will interrupted, a hint of something Tessa couldn't place in his voice.

"I-I don't know," Tessa stuttered. It was as if Will was asking her if she could ever fall in love with him. Could she?

"I think you should leave."

Tessa blinked and accidently dropped the broom, causing it to release a cloud of dust up in the air.

"What?" she asked blankly.

"Don't make me repeat myself," Will hissed and suddenly Tessa was pressed against the wall with an invisible weight against her, she could feel Will's breath on her face,

"What the hell is you problem?" she gritted through her teeth, "Since I've gotten here you've treated me like this is my fault. Well news flash, it's not. Actually, it's yours. You got these people muddled up with this curse in the first place, so don't act like you're innocent." She poked her finger into where she assumed Will's chest was. She expected the boy to yell at her or even hit her. Instead he stepped away and coldness hit the place where he was moments ago.

"I know it's my fault. But the only thing worse than this curse is false hope." He whispered in a broken voice, "this is why I'm asking…_begging_ you to leave. We can't take anymore disappointments."

In the end the basement remained mostly untouched. It wasn't because Will told Tessa to leave or he stormed out or she refused to work with him.

It was because precisely then Gabriel burst in, looking worried and dishevelled.

"Tessa come quick!" he panted as if he just ran a marathon, "there's something wrong with your brother."

"What?!" Tessa yelled, as she raced with the boy up the stairs, leaving Will forgotten in the basement.

"It's the truth, I was out scouting and I came across Bane. He was on his way to inform you that your brother was gravely ill," Gabriel said, frowning. The two skidded to a halt in the living room, where Jessie was talking with Cecily in hushed voices.

"Tessa!" Cecily gushed and Tessa felt invisible hands grab her shoulders, "Tessa your brother is ill…"

"I know I heard!" Tessa said hurriedly, biting her lip, "but what should I do? I can't leave you guys…"

"Nonsense," Charlotte grumbled from the floor, "he is your brother, you must go and see that he is well!"

"But…"

"No buts!" Gabriel stated, "you can go away. It's just a few days, and you can come back."

"You're always welcome here," Henry added with a detached sort of interest.

So with nobody disagreeing Tessa was packed and ready to go in minutes. Gabriel offered to come with her to Alicante, because he wanted to make sure she was safe when she got there. Before she left Jessie came over to her a plastic bottle filled with a shining blue liquid.

"This is part of our portal. You can get here in case of an emergency," he said, chewing on his lip. He gave Tessa a quick hug as an afterthought, "come back quick okay?" Tessa nodded, her throat tight. She was scared that if she left this would all turn into a dream.

Will didn't come to say goodbye.

With a heavy heart she walked to the gates with Gabriel, and the boy changed into a black sparrow as soon as they stepped out. The bird flying overhead was a reminder that Tessa wasn't completely crazy.

"How are you feeling?" Tessa asked for the third time, squeezing Nate's pale hand.

"I'm fine Tess, especially now that you're here," he sent his sister a weak smile, "It's just a cold. A bad one."

"How long do you think it will last?" Tessa asked. She's only been with Nate for a couple of hours but already she wanted to return to the Herondale Manor. Her hands were itching to reach for the portal bottle, just to see if Jessie made any new clothes, or if Lottie was being cuddled properly, or if Jem was feeling well.

She wanted to talk to Will, and find out why he wanted her to go.

"A couple days, why?" Nate asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I need to get back to the Manor, you know that."

"Ugh, you can't be serious," Nate made a disgusted face, "That dirt hole? You don't have to go anywhere, they can't leave can they?"

"No, but I promised them," Tessa untangled their hands and placed hers in her lap, "and anyway, I like them."

"Oh please." Nate snorted, "you like a cat, two men, a bird and a bunch of ghosts?"

"Excuse me, I think I need to go for a walk," Tessa muttered, getting up. She knew if she stayed around Nate any longer she might explode. All those years he barely cared for her, yes he made sure she was educated and had food on the table, but he never bothered to talk to her about anything. Gideon and Gabriel and Cecily and Charlotte and Jessie and Henry and Jem and even Will. They were all more of a family than he ever was. Nate never came to her school productions or parent evenings. He was always 'too busy,' always leaving her by herself, since she could remember.

She slammed the door of their apartment shut and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her coat. She wandered aimlessly around the town square, avoiding people and just thinking about everything and anything. But no matter what, everything came back to Will. Tessa itched to see what he looked like, when he frowned, smirked, yelled. He had an air of coldness around him especially when it was just the two of them, but Tessa could see right through it. He cared so much for everyone in the house, and Tessa could only hope someone could love her that much someday. When you couldn't see a person instead you concentrated on other aspects of them.

Tessa noticed how Will would be the first person by Jem's side if the other one coughed or looked sickly. He sang, terribly off key, when he took a bath, which was weird because he had a rather pleasant voice. He liked to jump out from nowhere and scare Tessa and others, just for fun. And Tessa wanted to see what he looked like doing those things.

And once again she wondered if she could ever fall in love with the ghost of a person.

"Teresa?!" a voice called out. Foolishly, Tessa spun on her heel to address whoever called her, "Teresa! It really is you!"

Axel Mortmain. Tessa swore in her mind, and put on a polite, fake smile,

"Axel, how nice to see you," she said, itching to get away from him.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in like a month!"

"Um, yeah…I, um…I was away," Tessa stuttered, "with some friends."

"Well you're back now," Mortmain grinned, putting an arm around Tessa's shoulders, "So much has happened whilst you were absent. There was a marvellous party at Alexei's and I was the star of the evening. I went with Camille Belcourt, you've heard of her? She's a friend of that Magnus person…"

"Yeah, Axel, actually I have to go…" Tessa ducked from under his arm, "sorry, Nate's sick and I need to take care of him."

"Well when can I see you again?" Mortmain asked with a sickening and slightly perverted smile,

"Actually I'm returning to my friend's house as soon as Nate's better," Tessa tucked her hair behind her ear, "So I might be gone for a bit…"

"Well where do your friends live?" Mortmain asked with a frown, "I can come pick you up some weekend."

"Oh, no, don't bother," Tessa said with a small smile, "they lived a long way away. I am sorry Axel, but I need to go!" and avoiding any other explanation, Tessa speed walked down the street.

When she got home Nate was watching YouTube videos.

"Are you serious right now?" Tessa hissed, "you were meant to be sick!"

"I am sick!" Nate said, slamming his laptop shut, "Can't you see? I'm sick of worrying about my sister in some strangers house!"

"It's more of a home than this is!" Tessa blurted gesturing around the bare room. Nate frowned,

"What happened to you, Tess?" he asked,

"I realised that those people need me the way you never needed me. You think I don't know about all those jobs you took out of town just to have time away from me?! I'm not that stupid, Nate! And I'm leaving!"

Tessa grabbed a bag and began blindly throwing clothes into it, her vision red with rage.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Nate asked angrily, getting out of bed,

"Home." Tessa said simply, "goodbye Nate, I'll see you later if you bother to get a hold of me," and with that she flung the door open.

However that was when her amazing plan ran out because there was one Axel Mortmain standing there,

"Why did you run off Teresa?" he asked, stepping inside and nodding at Nate, "You always do this."

"She's been living at that Herondale Manor," Nate spat, "and she thinks she belongs with all those…_freaks_, leaving there."

"They're not freaks!" Tessa said defensively, clutching her bag to her chest.

"Please," Mortmain rolled his eyes, "From what I've heard there's a bunch of men living there and they never ever leave. Did you fall in love with one of them, the old geezers? Is that why you're turning me down?"

He was getting closer and Tessa was backing away, as Nate looked impassive,

"It's none of your business!" she said angrily.

"Axel," Nate was examining his nails, "perhaps you should show my _sister _what a real man is."

They exchanged creepy glances and smiled and Tessa's heartbeat sped up, but not in a good way.

"What the hell Nate?" she whispered.

"Go on, that rooms free," Nate pointed at Tessa's bedroom before disappearing in his own room. He shut the door and Mortmain turned to Tessa with purpose, he reached out and grabbed her upper arms,

"Should we go and have some fun, Teresa?" he asked, but he was already leaning forward and pressing his lips to Tessa's. Unlike the kiss with Will, Tessa knew it was coming and therefore had an upper hand when she broke away and struck Mortmain in the face with her fist. His face whipped to the side and there was an angry red mark where her hand had made contact, but the leering grin didn't disappear from the man's face.

"Feisty, I like it," Mortmain licked his lips. Tessa sprinted down the short hallway, into her room and slammed the door shut. She locked the door and pressed her body weight against it for good measure,

"Teresa," Mortmain sang from the other side, "there's no point hiding. You'll come out sooner or later and we'll have our _fun_." The man chuckled, "I can wait. We have time."

Tessa slid down the door as tears welled up in her eyes. Now that the adrenaline of escaping was gone the fear and horror of the situation gripped her heart. Her own brother left her in the hands of this man, practically a stranger, to be…raped? The thought made a sob escape Tessa's throat.

"Aw darling," Mortmain cooed, "no need to cry. You can't stop this anyway, I'll make it good I promise."

Tessa slapped her hand over her mouth and moved away from the door, into the darkest corner of her room. _Get yourself together_, she could practically hear Jessie's voice in her head. She took a deep breath and racked her brain for anything that could help her in this situation. She didn't have her phone, she left it at the Manor because she stopped using it, so calling Magnus was out. She didn't know how else to communicate with him…

Suddenly a thought struck her. The portal in the bottle. She could use that to get to the Manor. She felt sick as she scrambled across the floor to where she dropped her bag. She could hear Mortmain whistling happily outside and the room began to spin. This whole thing was too much, she was tired and betrayed and angry and terrified. She reached for the bottle in her bag and pulled it out. The room filled with a floating blue light and she unscrewed the cap. She had no idea how to use the portal, but her hand was so unsteady that she accidently dropped it. The liquid spilled across the floor to form a large, shimmering puddle. Without a second thought Tessa fell into it, and it was like slipping through water, except she could breathe. Her last thought was of Will.

When Tessa came to her senses it was dark. For a second she panicked, remembering what had happened and unsure of where she was. Then she felt a warm, calloused hand clutching her own,

"It's okay. You're okay."

Tessa turned her head to see who was holding her hand. On a rickety old chair by her bed sat a boy she has never seen before. He had tanned skin and ebony hair that curled around his face like a dark halo. His eyes were a brilliant blue colour that shimmered in the darkness. His hand was squeezing Tessa's like it was the only thing keeping him alive.

"Will." She breathed, relief flooding her. She relaxed when he smiled, a soft, small, sad smile,

"You gave us quite a fright, falling out of the portal like that," he said, his thumb brushing up and down her palm, "I've never been so scared in my life. What happened?"

"Nate, he's such an arsehole. Mortmain came to our home and he tried to do…things to me. And Nate just let him," Tessa said weakly, still feeling a bit sick, "How come I can see you?"

"I don't know," Will's eyes were flashing with anger at Tessa's earlier words, "Cecily and I, we just suddenly became visible. Seconds later you were on the floor, unconscious. Must've been something you thought."

"I thought of you." Tessa murmured, her eyes falling shut, her body heavy with exhaustion, "before I left. I thought of you. Of home."

And then she was asleep.

The next time Tessa woke up the sun was high in the sky. She had been asleep for a long, long time, and she's never felt more rested than now. She yawned at stretched and looked at the chair where Will sat last night. She frowned when she saw no one there, and thought that maybe she imagined the whole thing.

The door opened by themselves and a tray levitated in the air,

"Will?" Tessa asked hopefully, sitting up.

"Nope," Cecily kicked the door shut, "just me. Nice of you to return to us so soon." She placed the tray in Tessa's lap, and it was filled with pancakes and coffee. She felt her shoulder being squeezed briefly, "Will told us what happened."

Tessa's throat constricted but she smiled at where she hoped Cecily was,

"I can't see you," she said, "or did I dream that?"

"No. We turned invisible at sunrise, but hopefully we'll be visible at night again. Come on, eat up, everyone downstairs wants to know how you are."

So Tessa ate a toast and drunk some coffee and ate some more toast and proceeded to throw up into a bucket, with Cecily holding back her hair. The invisible girl opened the window and Tessa laid down for a bit. When she eventually stood up she felt better than before. She pulled on a pair of jeans that she brought from home, wondering how she managed to pull her bag through the portal with her.

The two girls padded downstairs, into the living room where a heated debate was taking place.

"I'm with Will," Gabriel hissed, "the bastard needs to die."

"I can't believe we agree on something Lightworm," there was something dark in Will's voice.

"We can't kill her brother," Charlotte said, exasperated.

"Why not?" Jessie asked, cracking his knuckles, "he sure deserves it. And that Mortmain guy as well."

"How about we leave the decision to Tessa, ey?" Cecily asked as the two walked in. There were shouts of 'Tessa!' and she was swarmed with people. Her heart warmed and the word 'family' flew through her mind.

"How are you Tess?" Gabriel asked,

"What did that bastard do?!" Jessamine exclaimed,

"It's so good you're back!" Charlotte added,

"Me alegro de que estés en una sola pieza!" Gideon butted in, in Spanish,

"We were really worried," Jem said heatedly, a spark in his eyes,

"Especially Will," Henry teased.

"Give the girl some space," Will muttered, "Gabriel how about you make yourself useful and go on lookout?"

The boy rolled his eyes but walked to the door and Tessa could see him transform into a sparrow as he flew towards Alicante. She sat down and Gideon went to make tea,

"We were just saying how Mortmain and Nate deserve to die," Jessie said with a sweet smile. Tessa shuddered,

"I don't even want to think about them," she said. Everyone agreed and nodded, "Tell me, did anything change?"

"Well as you obviously know me and Will are visible at night," Cecily said happily, "but nobody else's curse was altered."

"Wait!" Jessamine exclaimed, "me and Cecy started working on this project, you've got to see it!" she sprinted upstairs and came back with folds of materials. Will and Gideon groaned as the three girls and Charlotte started obsessing over the cloths, sawing and cutting. And just like that it was back to normal.

Until Gabriel came back.

The sun was just setting and the girls finished working on an amazing cobalt dress that matched Cecily's eyes when Gabriel hurled through the door. Everyone's heads snapped up,

"Gab what's wrong?" Cecily asked. The boy was flushed, and looked a lot like when he delivered the news that Nate was 'sick.' Except there was panic in his eyes.

"They're coming!" he heaved.

"Who Gabriel?" Cecily jumped off the sofa, "Who's coming?!"

"The villagers!" Gabriel collapsed onto the floor, "They think we are keeping Tessa hostage."

"That's bullshit!" Jessie exclaimed,

"They don't know that!" Gabriel yelled in a high pitched voice, "and they are ready to dispose of everyone in this manor who isn't Tessa." There were gasps all around the room.

"What the hell are we meant to do?" Charlotte asked, her voice an octave higher than usual.

"Stay calm everyone," Jem said, his face hard, "we know they're coming. Which gives us the upper hand…"

That was the moment that Will and Cecily chose to stop being invisible. Tessa was struck by Will's beauty, the hard lines of his face and the strong jaw. And those determined blue eyes. She tried not to stare and instead looked at Cecily. She had her brother eyes and hair, which was long and curly. Her face was softer but they had identical expressions on,

"Great," Will groaned, "now we can't take them by surprise. We're visible."

"Come on, we have to do something!" Cecily clutched her hair.

"We're so close to breaking the curse," Jessie muttered desperately, "Hey! Witch! This is cheating! We can't break the curse if we're dead!" he added louder. Then he started yelling, "at least gives us a chance and let us have some extra powers to protect ourselves! The house keeps people in, but doesn't keep them out!"

There was an eerie silence in the room and then a voice came from the darkness in the corner,

"You are right. I will help you."

Sophia stepped forward from the shadows.

Mortmain had natural leading skills, so it was no surprise that after a quick and effective speech an impressive group of men from Alicante followed him to the Herondale manor. He wanted Tessa, as a wife, as a trophy. She was beautiful and that was enough for him. He had to have her. And he was so close. He had no idea how she had escaped that room, but he knew it would only make the moment he finally caught her so much more satisfying. Now all he had to do was break into that wretched manor, get her and arrest, or hopefully kill, the rest of those lunatics living there.

The mob moved up the mountain steadily as night fell. They were in trucks and cars, on motorcycles and there was even a mini bus. So many people, ready to rescue a helpless maiden. They made a lot of noise as they came closer to the Manor, which worried Mortmain, but not much.

They finally arrived at the dark, looming house. The lights were out and the gate was locked. That was no problem, someone in the van slammed forward into the fragile thing and sent it flying across the driveway. People spilled from the vehicles, carrying baseball bats and knives and torches. Mortmain went towards the front door first, confident, as Nate Grey hung near the back.

The large man kicked the door to the manor down without bothering to knock and was welcomed by darkness. He couldn't see a thing and his confidence wavered slightly, still he stepped into the clutches of night with the mob following close behind. The light from the torches penetrated the dark and outlined objects in the hallway.

"Let's split up!" Mortmain ordered, "Group one follow me, group two go down that hallway, group three and four go upstairs."

The groups all followed the orders and went to their destinations. Nate kept close to group four and was glancing over his shoulder as he crawled up the stairs. Groups three and four split up as group three went down the first floor corridor and Nate's group went up the next flight of stairs. The only light in the hallway came in through the moon that entered through arched French windows. It gave the corridor an eerie glow and the group hesitated to move forwards.

"Come on, men," Alexei De Quincey, one of Mortmain's close friends, huffed, "let's find this poor girl."

Nate didn't want to think what would happen when they did eventually find his 'sister.' As the group went down the corridors men threw open doors and glanced inside rooms.

"Looks like someone lives here," Archer, one of the men, said, "there's clothes everywhere. Keep looking."

But they only made it a couple of steps when all the doors on that level flew open, startling the men and making some of them squeak in fear. Heavy curtains fell over the windows, causing the corridor to explode into chaos and confusion as their source of light was cut off. Some men pulled out their witch lights to illuminate the hallway, and that's when they saw the figure dressed in white disappearing inside one of the rooms,

"There!" Alexei pointed, "I think I saw the girl!"

The small crowd started forward into a room only to find themselves surrounded by mirrors. The door slammed shut behind them, and in the mass of their reflections they couldn't find it again.

"Stay calm!" Nate ordered, though his heart was beating in his chest nervously, "Everyone look for the door."

"There! Someone just ran past!" someone exclaimed. Everyone turned, looking around loudly, trying to find the girl.

"Maybe it's the girl!"

"Maybe it's a ghost!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Alexei snapped, though his eyes were nervously skittering around the room and his voice was shaking, "there's no one there!"

Just then a face appeared at a corner of one of the mirrors, for a split second. People scrambled backwards, causing the closest mirror to fall over and shatter on the floor.

"Whoever's here come out!" Archer called. There was no reply.

"Shatter those mirrors," Alexei hissed, "They can't hide if there's nothing to hide behind."

The men didn't have to be told twice. Minutes and several cut fingers later, the mirrors were nothing but shattered glass on the floor. A figure stood in one corner of the room, her brown hair flowing over her face.

"Tessa?" Nate asked, stepping forward, his shoes crunching the glass, "Tessa is that you?"

Just then the single window in the room exploded into shards that rained down on the men and a horde of sparrows flew in, circling their heads and pecking at their exposed skin.

"Get to the door! GET TO THE DOOR!" Nate yelled, trying to shield his face from the sharp beaks of the birds.

"This house is haunted!" Archer yelled, racing to the exit.

Meanwhile one floor underneath group three, led by Dark, was unaware of the chaos upstairs. This group was joking and laughing loudly to keep the chills away, even though the corridor was as dark as it was upstairs. Everyone quietened when they heard quiet sobbing. Someone lifted a witchlight high to illuminate the figure curled up on the floor.

It was a short, blonde girl in a bloodied dress.

"That isn't Teresa Grey!" Walker exclaimed,

"Well then who is she?" someone in Dark's group asked. Walker and some other men cautiously came over to the sobbing girl.

"Are you alright, lady?" George Penhallow asked, inching closer. The girl clumsily picked herself up, as if she was hurt, her hands covering her face, "are you hurt?"

The girl dropped her hands and the men cringed,

"You're not a girl!" Walker exclaimed in distaste. The boy grinned mischievously and pulled off the blonde wig,

"Jessie Lovelace at your service," he mocked bowed. Suddenly someone at the back of the crowd flew forward and slammed into two men, bringing them down to the floor with him,

"What the hell you fool?" Dark hissed.

"It wasn't me I swear!" the man yelled, "someone pushed me!"

"There's nobody there idiot!" Dark yelled, annoyed. Just then someone tugged on her hair. She whirled around ready to confront that someone, but found that there was nobody there.

"Hey where did that boy go?!" George yelled. And sure enough the cross dresser was gone, only a blood stain on the wall any indication that he was even there in the first place.

"I don't know, but someone better explain to me what the hell is going on!" Dark screeched, turning around in circles, "Show yourself!"

A figure appeared right in front of her, with wide eyes and tangled black hair. The apparitions body disappeared around her waist, and she opened her mouth and let out a high pitched scream that echoed around even when she disappeared. The men from the group started to back away even as two of them were thrown against the closest walls. There was the sound of feet thumping down the stairs and people screaming,

"That's group four!"

"They're leaving…"

"We should too!"

"Let's get outta here men!"

And just like that the fallen men scrambled to their feet and followed the other group.

"Come back you wimps!" Dark screeched as she ran after them, only to trip over nothing. She glanced around but didn't see anything.

"Fuck this." She muttered and followed her comrades.

The two smallest groups were downstairs. One group, led by Black, was in the kitchen,

"Any signs of her?" Black asked as her men searched,

"No," Josiah Wayland said, "she's not in the servants quarters."

"Oh come on, she couldn't just disappear!" Black snapped. Victor Whitelaw emerged from a room,

"Guys I found a basement maybe she's there!" he said. The small group hurried to follow him and Black pushed herself to the head of the group. They descended down steep stairs into the basement. A few people coughed and sneezed as the air was filled with dust,

"Quiet!" Black hissed, "turn your torches on!"

But the light from the torches and witch lights combined didn't make the darkness any less mysterious. Black was starting to regret being at the front, as she turned around corner and corner of the underground maze, "keep your eyes open for the girl," she muttered, pushing forward, past wine cellars until they finally came to a stop in a disgusting, small room. There was a tiny window with steel bars near the ceiling.

"Pass me a witch light," Black commanded. Someone passed one down and she held it up. Everywhere people gasped. There were blood stains on the walls and shackles coming out of the bricks, one side was decorated with rusty torture devices with old and fresh blood on them. But the worst part was the fragile, skinny guy with silver hair hanging limply with his hands tied to the wall. He had bruises and old blood on his face, his eyes swollen shut,

"H - help me p-please," he rasped, moving his wrists weakly, making the shackles rattle.

"Who are you?" Victor asked, stepping forward,

"H-he's here…" the boy whimpered, "he's g-going to kill u-us…h-he's h-here…"

"Who is?" Josiah asked, emotionless and calm as always. A terrible whisper echoed through the room in a different language,

"_Quiero pastel…"_ the voice hissed. People looked around, the witch lights wavering. The boy let out a strangled whimper and then slumped to the ground.

"Is he dead?" someone from the crowd asked,

"It doesn't matter," Black hissed, "let's get out of here. Miss Gray isn't here." But before anyone could take a step outside a terrible, barely human roar rumbled through the room. A door creaked open and a tall man stepped out. His skin was peeling off, and it was a disgusting grey colour, his blonde hair stuck out in clumps on his head and he was carrying a saw in his massive hand. There was blood on his face, his clothes, his weapon.

Nobody said anything and everyone turned around and ran for their lives, leaving the monster and the body behind and following the echo of footsteps of the other retreating groups to find their way out.

The last group, that went straight to the living room, was led my Axel Mortmain himself. He strolled right in and was surprised to see the room enveloped by warm candlelight. His men scanned the area,

"There is no sign of her," John Shade said, eyes skittering,

"Look for her. She has to be somewhere here." Mortmain gritted through his teeth. His little Tessa would be found soon, and then she would belong to him, "Spread out."

The men followed the orders checking around the room, in wardrobes, under sofas.

"Not here!" someone called, then someone else yelped,

"Ouch! Something bit me!"

Mortmain scanned the floor and saw a blue cat skittering between people's feet, biting their ankles,

"Get that cat!" John Shade yelled. He was unfortunately standing by the wall, under a shelf. On that shelf was a clock, which decide to fall at that precise moment, and hit him on the head, knocking him out.

"John!" some men yelled, running up to him.

"Leave him!" Mortmain snapped, "we need to find the girl."

"But Axel…"

"I said find the girl!" just then a vase flew across the room and smashed into pieces on the wall.

"Who threw that?!"

"Not me!"

"There's no one there!"

"Shut up and look for the girl!" Mortmain yelled, stamping his foot in frustration. The table in the corner was flipped upside down, its content falling to the floor with a crash. The men jumped,

"I think we should go now," Japheth Pangborn said as he and another man hoisted John Shade up in between them, "the girl isn't here, but someone else is."

"No you fools!" Mortmain yelled. But men were already moving past him and out the door. A pillow flew and hit one of them in the back of the head,

"We're sorry, we're sorry!" he muttered, terrified, backing away. Footsteps ran out all around the room and the parlour was flooded with people trying to get out. Mortmain screamed at them to stop but even his own sisters were eager to leave the mansion. No matter what he tried, he just couldn't stop them. In the end he was left by himself in the middle of the living room.

"Fine. I'll find her myself then," he hissed.

"Just give it up, Mortmain," a male voice said.

"You've lost. Now leave," another, this time female, added.

"Who are you?! Show yourselves!" Mortmain cried, spinning in circles, a cold sweat breaking over his skin "come on then!"

"Why would we do that? We've won anyway," the girl tutted, "there's one of you and many of us."

"I need to find Teresa!" Mortmain yelled.

"She doesn't want to be found. She's happy here," the male said.

"No she's not. She's not. Who are you?!"

"We're just voices."

"Yeah, you're just crazy."

"After all there's nobody here."

"Shut up! Shut up!" Mortmain whimpered, covering his ears with his hands,

"Give it up already."

"You've lost!"

Mortmain started to back out of the room,

"Who are you? Who are you?" he whispered. A boy with blue eyes and black hair and a wicked grin appeared in front of him,

"We're just ghosts." He said.

Sophie came out of the shadows and raised her hand. With a swish of air Mortmain's eyes rolled back and his knees hit the floor. And he saw darkness.

Gideon, Jessie, Tessa, Cecy, Gideon and Jem came down to the living room, grins on their faces.

"We did it!" Jessie squealed, throwing her arms around Gideon and Tessa. Gabriel, in his human form, walked in through the door,

"They're gone," he said with a toothy grin, "and I doubt they'll come back anytime soon."

Sophie cleared her throat and the smiles melted of everyone's faces, replaced by frowns.

"Well I suppose I can't just leave you like this," the warlock said with a small smile of her own, "In that case, I reverse the curse." She snapped her fingers and all the candles suddenly seemed to burn brighter. There were sharp intakes of breath that filled the room and Tessa whirled round to see what was going on.

Gabriel looked like he was in pain as the black wings retracted into his back, leaving a tiny scar in the middle that was a shade lighter than his skin. A series of surprised 'oh's!"' escaped Jessamine as her curves returned and her blonde ringlets tumbled down her back like a golden waterfall. Where Henry the clock lay on the floor grew a tall ginger man with lanky arms and a surprised expression on his soft features. Charlotte yelped as she transformed back into a thin woman with brown hair and warm eyes. Jem's hair and eyes grew dark strand by strand until they were pitch black, and his cheeks filled with. Two identical pops sounded and Will and Cecily appeared out of nowhere. Tessa's eyes were automatically drawn to Will's and he smiled at her.

"Be nice, this probably won't be the last you see of me," Sophie winked, smiling, and then she was gone.

"I sure hope not." Gideon said dreamily. That was when Will strode across the room, gathered a surprised Tessa in his arms, and kissed her.

When Axel Mortmain came to his senses he was woken by the police and paramedics who were shaking him, asking how he was and what happened. When he swore that there had been ghosts haunting the house and a witch and a talking cat, the doctors called the closest mental hospital.

There were cobwebs and dust and mice in the house, the windows were grimy, the roof broken.

But there were no ghosts.

_A year later. _

The occupants of the house moved far, far away from Alicante. They went to London, where Magnus Bane pointed them in the direction of New York. That's where they were now, more happy than ever. Nobody there knew who they were or what their story was, and that was good. For a while they have paid attention to newspapers from Idris, that spoke of the disappearance of Tessa Gray, but after a while they stopped.

Jessamine lived in a gorgeous little cottage in the woods, and was exploring the new fashions as well as embracing her femininity all over again, even though she swore she never lost it. She had a few boyfriends, but for now nobody permanent. She was set on 'living life' before she settled down. Which ended up with many nights in which Cecily and Tessa had to drag her passed out self out of a nightclub. She opened an antique store with some of the things they have nicked from the Herondale Manor.

Jem was enjoying a healthy life, appreciating ever little thing. He worked with Jessie in the shop but often gave concerts or violin lessons to college students. He hasn't found anybody either, but he claimed he wasn't looking. He lived in the house neighbouring to Will because the blue eyes boy swore he needed his best friend close to him, even though Jem's life wasn't at risk anymore.

Cecily and Gabriel moved into an apartment together, and Gabriel pursued the career of a pilot and was now one of the best in the country. He never could give up flying. Cecily returned to college after some persuasion from Charlotte, and has taken up an art course.

Speaking of Charlotte, she and Henry finally married, and the wedding was beautiful. They have adopted three cats that they named Ave, Atque and Vale and Charlotte applied, and got accepted, for a teacher position in a primary school. Henry became a mechanic, fixing cars and other things, and began to collect clocks, of all the things. He was a bit more dreamy than before, but nobody really minded. Now there was a baby on the way and Henry wanted to call him Buford.

Gideon spent the first three months in America trying to catch Sophie the warlock. With some help from Magnus and some of his warlock friends he finally got a hang of her in Florida. When he came home eventually, they were already dating. There were no hard feelings between her and everyone else, but Will did take some time trying to get used to her.

And then there was Will and Tessa.

They rent a house next door to Jem, and they are, quite simply, in love. They probably argue the most out of all the couples which usually ends up with either Will going to Jem's house or Tessa going to Jessie's. But when they eventually forgave each other it would end up with romantic kisses in the rain or…erm…other _things_. Tessa cut Nate off completely and started working at the local library, often bringing books home. Will tracked down some descendant of his, Jace, who was friends with someone who was friends with Magnus' Bane's boyfriend, and gave him the Herondale Manor to do whatever he wished with it. Overall the two of them were happy with each other, more happy than they ever were before.

Tessa was comfortably snuggled into Will's side on their king sized bed as she watched snow fall outside the window and gather on the window sill. Will was reading A Tale Of Two Cities, _again_, one of his hands playing with Tessa's long hair,

"We should make dinner," she said sleepily, her cheek pressed against Will's chest.

"Mhm," Will agreed, his eyes not leaving the book, as he leaned down and kissed the top of Tessa's head. Just then Tessa's phone started blaring 'Welcome to the Black Parade,' and Will jumped, dropping his book.

"By the Angel, I don't think I'll ever get used to that," he muttered, clutching his heart dramatically. Tessa rolled her eyes at him and picked up her phone, to see Henry's face filling the screen,

"Hello?" she asked, balancing it between her shoulder and ear as she laid back down. She shot up almost immediately, "What?! Now? But…okay! Calm down, we're on our way!" she stood up and hanged up, pulling out a coat from the wardrobe. "Get your butt up Will, Lottie's in labour!"

Minutes later Tessa was starting the car, her hands drumming an irregular beat on the steering wheel as Will went to grab Jem. The two dark haired boys emerged from Jem's house, shielding their faces from the snow,

"Let's go!" Tessa said impatiently as Will slid in beside her and Jem jumped into the back. He pressed a chaste kiss to Tessa's cheek,

"Nice to see you too, Tess," he said with a smile. It immediately calmed Tessa down.

When they got to the hospital they saw Jessamine, with damp hair as if she just stepped out of the shower, Cecily, Gideon, Gabriel and Sophie sitting on the chairs, looking nervous and impatient. Henry was pacing up and down the corridor wringing his hands out,

"They won't let me in!" he said, looking up at Tessa, Jem and Will, desperately, "I'm the father and they won't bloody let me in!"

"Hey it's okay, Henry," Tessa embraced the worried man and he slumped against her, "Charlotte's in good hands."

Just then a scream came through the closed door, followed by a moan and a whimper. Henry ripped himself away from Tessa and went for the closed doors but Gideon and Gabriel were already there, restraining him,

"Hey, hey," Jem grabbed Henry's face and made him look at him, "It's okay. She's just giving birth, it's alright."

Henry collapsed onto one of the plastic chairs with a heavy sigh, his face in his hands. Jessamine rubbed his back in comfort. They sat in silence for a bit, listening to the sounds coming through the doors. Henry jumped every time he heard Charlotte's scream, but Jessie's hand on his back stopped him from running to her. Gideon and Sophie were talking in hushed voices and Gabriel was biting his fingernails, and every time Cecily hit his arm gently to get him to top, he'd return to it after a few seconds. Jem sat on the other side of Henry, a comforting presence, and Tessa leaned on the wall and Will came to stand next to her. He reached down and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers together. Tessa squeezed his hand and sent him a tight smile.

Then a baby wail rang through the door and this time nobody stopped Henry from running to his wife, in fact they all followed closely behind, tumbling into the room and tripping over each other. Charlotte sat on a bed that was stained with some blood, looking exhausted and sweaty and absolutely content. There was a tiny, red bundle in her arms, that was wailing softly. Everyone kind of stood around the bed with their mouths hanging open, as the nurses bustled around. Finally Henry cleared his throat,

"Can-Can I…" he was getting choked up, "Can I h-hold him?"

Charlotte nodded, her eyes peaceful as she passed the baby to Henry. He held the bundle awkwardly as if he wasn't sure how to, and muttered words to him.

"Hey sweetie, I'm your daddy. Look at you, you cute little thing, you look just like your mommy…"

Tessa went over to Charlotte and squeezed her hand. The older woman sent her a calming smile,

"We're going to name him Charles."

"Yes, Charles Buford," Henry nodded, mesmerized by his son, "Charles Buford Branwell. It's beautiful isn't it?" he asked nobody in particular, "Here Tessa you hold him," he passed the baby to her. Surprised, Tessa took the boy from him,

"Hello Charlie," she said softly, folding the baby into her arms. His face was pink, and his eyes shut but there was a tiny tuft of bright orange hair on his otherwise bald head, "He really is beautiful."

"We were going to ask you and Will to be the godparents." Charlotte said.

"Oh Gosh, we'd love to!" Will gushed, eyes sparkling.

Everyone else crowded around Tessa, cooing at the baby while Henry went to embrace his wife. When Tessa looked up she saw Will was standing where she left him, his eyes sparkling and the most loving expression on his face as he watched her hold the baby.

"Here Cecy," Tessa passed the girl the baby, ignoring her protests of 'I don't know what to do with him!' The brown haired girl went to stand with Will.

"Why are you staring like that, don't you want to hold the baby?" Tessa asked, hugging him. The boy wrapped his arms around her as the rest of the group levitated back to Lottie's bed, returning the baby to her and filling the room with loud voices and laughter.

"Nah, I'd probably drop him by accident," Will smiled into Tessa's hair, "I just thought you'd make a wonderful mother." He added, leaning down to press a warm, loving kiss to her lips.

Later that night when Jem said goodnight and went back inside his house and Tessa looked for their own house key, Will knelt down in the snow and proposed to her right there and then. And she said yes.

_Tessa wondered if she would ever be able to fall in love with the ghost of a boy. _

She didn't have to worry, she already did.

**I take it back. This is soo much longer. Please R&R, it took me like a month to write this!**

**~Fly on **


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